I Will Break Down These Walls
by Lady of the Myst
Summary: Hinata, the forgotten Hyuuga heiress has been sent to Sunagakure to wed the young Kazekage in order to strengthen the sometimes frail bond between their villages. Will she able to get him to let down the barries he's put up to keep others out?
1. Prologue: Out of time, out of options

-Prologue-

"I'm sorry Kazekage-sama but the decision has been made."

Gaara looked the Suna elder straight in the eye, his tone level, expression nonexistent, "When was this arrangement put into place?" He inquired in his soft, deadly voice.

The elder shook her head slowly, "Long before you were born I'm afraid."

"But this isn't fair!" Temari shouted, banging her fist on her younger brother's desk, "Gaara had no say in the matter!"

"But he did. He was given until his eighteenth birthday to find a woman he would feel comfortable calling his wife. If he couldn't then we would commence the arranged engagement. The life of a ninja can be so short, even someone like the Kazekage can be killed. We can't wait for an heir forever."

"But an arranged marriage? That's so primitive! It-"

The Kazekage raised his hand slowly, silencing his sister before she could raise her voice any louder, "I guess I have no choice. It probably would have come down to this anyways, finding a wife is the last thing on my mind." His voice sounded somewhat hopeless as the statement passed his lips.

"Very well." The elder said, her tone displaying her clear satisfaction and relief at how well the discussion had gone over, "I'll report to the other elders and tell them the news."

"Just one more question!" Temari called out, stopping the elder at the door.

"Yes my dear?"

"Who is my brother going to marry?"

She smiled in a kindly way, her wrinkled face scrunching, "Why the Hyuuga heiress Hinata of course."


	2. One: Two types of goodbye

-Chapter One-

Hinata sat before her father, hands folded delicately on her lap. She had been called away from training with her teammates by a Branch member, she was told there was some important news pertaining her future.

"As you are well aware Hinata, you've had an arranged marriage to the son of the Kazekage of Sunagakure since you were extremely young." He stopped to see that she understood.

"Yes father." Hinata replied quietly, having trouble looking him in the eye.

"There was also a possibility that the engagement would be called off that the Kazekage's son found a bride before his eighteenth birthday."

This time when he paused to make sure that she was following, she only nodded in response to the statement, "Well that is not the case. The Kazekage's son, now the fifth Kazekage, turned eighteen last week and has no bride to speak of."

Hinata's heart sunk, though her face remained expressionless, nervous if nothing else. The last thing she wanted to do was think about marriage, she'd just been promoted to jounin level and was going on her first A ranked mission next week. But of course, when you're an heiress, ninja responsibilities are often overlooked.

"You will leave for Sunagakure tomorrow morning. I suggest you go and get packed, save your best kimono to wear for the ride there. I want you to look as presentable as possible."

"Yes father."

Hinata stood up slowly, bowing to make her exit.

"And Hinata?"

Hinata looked up, catching her father's eye, "Yes?"

"This is also a peace keeping arrangement, seeing as we've been rocky with the sand for so long now. I want you to make the Kazekage as happy as humanly possible. Is that understood?"

"Of course…" She said quietly.

"Good, dismissed." He waved his hand towards her, signaling that she leave him in peace.

Hinata went to her room and started packing, tears forming in her eyes as she put her clothes into her large suitcases. She wiped them away furiously, gritting her teeth in frustration at how weak she was emotionally.

But there was still so many things she had wanted to do. Like go on that A ranked mission, and maybe even gather up the courage to finally tell Naruto the way she felt…

She shook her head, it was better that, that had never happened, especially now that she was being shipped away to Suna to be married. It was best to keep things they way they were, even if it wasn't what Hinata wanted. The happiness of two villages and many generations to come was much more important that her own.

"Maybe the Kazekage will be a kind man…and I can at least find some level of happiness…maybe even if we can only become friends…it'd be better than nothing.." Hinata whispered quietly to herself as she turned and sat down on her luggage, cramming her clothing in so that she could zip it shut and not have to take another bag. She was going to try her hardest at making this situation work.

"Who is the current Kazekage anyways?" Hinata mused to herself as she walked along Konoha's main street towards the Hokage's office to pick up her documentations allowing her to leave the village and to become a citizen of Suna.

"Hm…well, if I remember correctly…its Gaara isn't it?" Her brow creased in thought, until his vermillion hair flashed through her mind's eye. She halted momentarily, stunned as she remember the first time she saw him, back six years ago at the chunin exam. She remembered the blood, the chakra levels so high they were physically suffocating.

Subconsciously Hinata's hand gripped the fabric of her jacket above her heart, making sure the pressure wasn't there.

They were going to marry her off to Gaara? She hadn't been one to follow politics, especially with the extensive training she'd undergone over the past few years to become a jounin, and honestly, from what she remembered of him, she wasn't entirely sure how someone like him could have been a good leader.

She shook her head, "That was an inconsiderate thought…" She said allowed, brow furrowed.

Slowly she ascended the stairs to the Hokage's office, looking down at the steps intently. The door to the main entrance opened before Hinata had a chance to reach it.

"Oi, Hinata! I heard about the promotion to jounin, that's sweet! Welcome aboard!"

Hinata looked up and blushed, "Thank you Naruto."

The blond grinned, black marks on his face making him look like a fox, "No problem, you totally deserve it, you're one of the best medical-nin I know. Maybe soon you can be assigned a team of students just like me!"

Hinata laughed quietly, her gaze shifting to the ground, "That would be nice…"

"Next time I see Granny Tsunade, I'll definitely put in a good word for you okay?"

Hinata looked up again and nodded, "That sounds nice, thanks again, Naruto."

Naruto grinned, "You're so nice Hinata, always thanking people all the time and apologizing even when things aren't your fault. You gotta learn to bask in other people's compliments once in a while"

Hinata was stunned by his comment, eyes widening ever so slightly, "O-okay…"

Naruto nodded, "Good, okay well, I've gotta go before my team starts to wonder where I disappeared to, Granny Tsunade kept me longer than I expected. See ya!"

"Good-bye Naruto." Hinata waved as she watched him leave, oblivious to the double meaning in her words.


	3. Two: Freak on a leash

-Chapter Two-

Gaara watched as servants rushed around the house, busily preparing for the arrival of the Hyuuga heiress.

_And my new wife…_

The word that felt like acid on his tongue seemed even more caustic in his thoughts. He closed his eyes, head tilted down, lips parted ever so slightly in a sigh. He was aware of the elder's logic behind getting married so young, but he just didn't feel ready to have a wife.

His emotions were still unstable, though the people of Suna now accepted him as an individual and respected him as their leader, these feelings were far from that of affection, something Gaara had never experienced. Companionship in Naruto and his siblings, maybe even something more from them, but he never failed to notice how nervous others got when they thought that he was going to loose his temper.

_They think I'm like a lion tied to a tree with a piece of fraying thread, just waiting for me to finally snap…_

Gaara had come to accept the fact that no one could ever completely trust him with his temper, and with his behavior from the past, it was something he understood. But just because he knew why people still cowered when he glanced in their direction, doesn't make it hurt any less.

The Kazekage was never one for self pity, but he wanted the looks to stop.

Kankuro came and clapped a hand on his back, grinning jovially, "So, ready for married life little bro? Better you than me."

Temari walked up from behind and whacked him over the head with her fan, a snickening crack following the whiplash of his head flying forward, "You bastard!" She growled, "Don't try to scare him, they're not even going to be married for another year or so."

Kankuro winced, rubbing the back of his head, pulling his hood gingerly off of his head and touching his fingers to his hair. When he pulled away they were stained crimson, "Ow…yeah but don't they have to share a room?"

"Haven't you listened at all?!?" Temari growled, threatening to hit him again but putting her fan down. She put her hands on her hips and scowled, "Gaara and the Hyuuga heiress are going to have their own rooms. You can't just stick two people who barely know each other in a room together, that's cruel."

"Well its not like Gaara sleeps anyways…" Kankuro mumbled.

She turned on him and glared, "So?! He still needs his own space! We have plenty of rooms here, its not like space is an issue!"

Kankuro put his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay I give! Just don't hit me again!"

Temari _'hmphed' _and stomped off down the hallway, making sure each servant was doing what they were supposed to so that the manor would be presentable. Gaara had never seen the place look so lively in his life. And once he got past the annoyance of it all, the thrum of people gliding through the halls was almost enjoyable, seeing as people tended to avoid him, this was as close to being in a community without having to address the public as he would be for a while. The thought left a bittersweet taste at the back of his throat the he couldn't really get rid of.

"Well, I'm gonna go, gotta make sure the patrol squads aren't slacking just because I've been a little preoccupied lately. I should probably also see that this cut gets cleaned up." He grinned and waved, turning the opposite way Temari had left and walking out onto the streets.

Gaara watched him leave before glancing over at the clock on the wall, biting back an agitated sigh. He had a large stack of paperwork waiting for his signature sitting on his desk and he was none to eager to get back to it. The mere thought of it caused the muscles in his hand to cramp and spasm.

But such is the life of the Kazekage, always doing for the good of the people, even if it means overlooking what you'd rather be doing. So without further internal protest, he dissipated into a flurry of sand, materializing in his formal office down the street from the manner. He had an office there, but it was one he seldom used save for when he sought refuge from his siblings.

He walked over to his chair as slowly and deliberately as possible. Sitting down and turning to face the mountain of papers that had grown since he'd last sat down only a few hours ago. He picked up his pen and the first document in the stack, reading it over thoroughly before deciding whether to approve it with his signature or not. Most were mission requests and reports which required little thought so the stack was depleted within the course of a few hours.

But of course, documents that are easily completed are easily replenished. As soon as once secretary came in to file the finished documents, another came in with a fresh stack, not quite as large as the first, but it was still work Gaara had no desire to do.

By the time Gaara was finished with the last of the paper work, it was past eleven o'clock in the evening, he'd skipped dinner in a desperate effort to finish of the stack once and for all and was ravenously hungry. Slowly he stood up, his leg muscles cramping from being crammed under a desk for so long, knees cracking noisily with the first few steps he took.

Once again he dissolved into nothing more than wisps of sand, carrying along the breeze until he was in his own room at the manor. He shed his formal clothing in favor of some comfortable clothing another person, someone who slept, may have called pajamas. To him it was a t-shirt and sweatpants.

He walked down into the kitchen were Temari and Kankuro were sitting at the table, drinking coffee and talking quietly. They looked up and smiled when they saw him come in, "Hey Gaara, just get home?" Kankuro asked, watching as his crimson-haired brother walked over to the counter in search of food.

Gaara nodded slowly, his head heavy with fatigue, "It was…a long day."

"You know Gaara," Temari started, pouring herself another cup of coffee and adding cream and sugar in to make it light and sweet, "You don't always have to finish every single document, you can just leave some for the next day if there was ever too much for you."

Gaara glanced over at her from the side, reaching into the cabinet and pulling out a bagel, popping it into the toaster.

"If I left work for tomorrow, then I would have more work than I normally would, I'd never catch up. I don't see the point."

Temari sighed, "Yeah I guess…put who cares if you're a little behind? You're job is to guide the village, not to be stuck in an office all day filing paperwork."

"Shinobi protect the village Temari," Gaara said, his voice sounding emptier and emptier with each word, "The kazekage is a political poster child. They can make their own decisions if they want to, but most have council members breathing down their necks and pressuring them into doing what they want."

"Don't say that!" Temari cried, slamming her fists on the table, "You've worked so hard for this position, don't let all of the bombardment that's been going on lately depress you! People look to you for hope, what will they think when they see that their Kazekage is beginning to crack under pressure?!"

Gaara closed his eyes and laughed mirthlessly, "Simple, they'll say that I'm just living up to their expectations."


	4. Three: Sit Stay Roll over

-Chapter Two-

Hinata was woken up early in the morning by one of the maids who came to her door and knocked softly, "Miss Hinata, are you awake? You're to be leaving in thirty minutes…"

Hinata was so startled she almost tripped herself getting out of bed, "Thirty minutes?! I overslept? Oh this isn't good, father's going to be angry at me if I'm late in arriving to Suna!"

She ran into her adjoining bathroom, taking a quick shower, not bothering to wait for the water to warm up, and running a brush through her long, blue-black hair. She dressed into a camisole and a zip up hoodie with some sweatpants, not wanting the kimono to get wrinkly with her sitting in it for three days. The maid came in to help her adjust the formal combs in her hair and make sure it was done just so. She slipped on her ninja sandals and walked out into the carriage with three minutes to spare.

"Cutting it a bit close Hinata, you're lucky." Her fathere murmured, shaking his head, "Remember Hinata, make him as happy as you possibly can, don't disappoint me."

Hinata nodded slowly so she wouldn't mess up her ornate hair style, "Yes father, I understand completely."

"Good, I'll see you at the wedding." He said curtly, turning and retreating into the house.

_So that's it? He's just going to forget about me…_

She sighed and leaned her elbow against the window of the carriage, looking out, eyes glazed over in boredom. The ride took at least three days, and that was going straight through with no breaks. On foot it would have taken two days, maybe less, but it was more formal to travel by carriage. She wished she could have at least traveled there with her team, one last mission, but then again, they were no longer her team, she was soon going to be an official resident of Sunagakure.

She passed the time in the carriage by doing various things: writing, drawing, reading, she even brought some supplies to make her herbal balms as a gift to the kazekage and his siblings. The carriage had two drivers who took shifts so no pauses would be needed, other than the occasional bathroom break. Still, the ride was agonizingly long. At one point in time, after she'd ready every book she'd brought, used up all her stationary for doodling, and made as many herbal balms as she'd brought supplies for, she had become so bored she was sure that she'd go insane.

Sleeping was uncomfortable in the carriage because she couldn't lie down with the risk of messing up her hair. She had to sleep sitting up, propping her legs on the seat opposite her own. When morning came around her neck and back ached and she felt anything but rested.

"Lady Hinata?" One of the guards peered in through the small window in the carriage.

Hinata jumped, jarred from her light, uncomfortable sleep, "Yes?" She asked groggily.

"We've just passed through the gates ma'am, we're going to be arriving at the Kazekage's mansion soon…"

Hinata nodded, rubbing her eyes, "Alright, I'll change into my kimono then…"

"Would you like us to stop at an inn so you can have a comfortable place to change? We've got some time…"

Hinata shook her head, "No, please don't trouble yourselves, the carriage is just fine, the sooner the ride is over, the sooner I can get out for good. I might be compelled to walk if you let me out now…"

The ANBU guard nodded, "Alright."

Hinata drew the curtains over either window in the carriage, buttoning them together so that they stayed shut before pulling off her sweat pants and unzipping her sweatshirt. She pulled on her kimono, which was a soft lavender with lilac branches along the bottom as well as the sleeves, the obi was a deep green. She put on her formal sandals, grimacing at how uncomfortable they were, before asking a female ANBU officer to come into the carriage and make sure she'd tied all of her sashes correctly.

By the time she was ready to present herself to the Kazekage, the carriage was pulling to a stop.

"We're here…" A guard said from the window.

Slowly the door to the carriage was opened and Hinata stepped out on knees weak with anxiety as well as lack of use from travel. She steadied herself before adopting a proper posture, lifting her chin ever so slightly and making sure her shoulders didn't slouch.

Ahead of her stood one of the largest mansions she'd ever seen in her life. It was painted in a combination of deep browns and reds, similar to everything else in the village, and had five floors above ground level, windows spaced immaculately at even intervals. Her gaze traveled down further still until it rested upon a tall, slim figure with dark rings around his sea foam eyes. The Kazekage.

His arms were crossed over his chest, what seemed to be a causal gesture. Hinata hoped it was only feigned, that he was just as nervous as she was. Judging by the emotionless look on his face, it was impossible to tell.

Beside the Kazekage stood his two siblings, flanking him on either side. All were dressed in their normal clothing, she felt horribly overdressed and uncomfortably out of place. Was it just her or had the world starting tilting off of its axis?

Calm down. She told herself resolutely, determined to calm herself enough to make a good impression. If there was one thing she could do for the clan she had failed so many times, it was keep this treaty strong and make her future husband as happy and proud as she possibly could.

Cautiously she stepped forward, two of her guards followed closely with her belongings. She stopped a few feet away from the Kazekage and bowed as low as her intricate hair style would allow, not wanting it to come undone, that would look extremely unprofessional, "Greetings, Kazekage-sama." She said in her most confident voice, but a slight quiver passed through towards the end, she kept her gaze on the ground.

Temari laughed, "Don't be so formal Hinata, from now on we're family, so you can call us by our names, it's only fair. You're our guest not our slave."

She motioned for Kankuro to go and retrieve her things from one of the guards, taking the remaining bags for herself, "Alright, you can leave her with us, she's in extremely capable hands guys. And I'm sure she could deliver one hell of a kick if she wanted to." She said with a cheeky grin.

The guards gave her a curt nod, saying their brief good-byes to Hinata before returning to the carriage and heading back to the village gates. Hinata's heart felt heavy, she wasn't ready to commit herself to someone, she was still so young…

"Well then, now that the stuffy guards are gone, you want to come inside and see your room?" Temari offered, hoisting Hinata's luggage up onto her shoulder casually.

"L-lady Temari, I can help with my bags, I don't want to be a burden…" Hinata said, reaching out for a bag that was swiftly moved out of her reach.

"Don't worry about it, if I offer to help, you're not being a burden." She said with a shrug, "Come on, lets go, I'm sure you want to get out of that heavy kimono, you must be dying of heat."

Maybe that's why she felt faint. Hinata thought, nodding slowly to Temari's request before following her into the mansion that was, thankfully, considerably cooler than the outside. Kankuro rushed ahead of them, up a flight of central stairs and down the hall.

"Lazy ass!" Temari shouted irately, "Haven't you ever heard of 'lady's first'?!"

"This luggage is heavy! I don't wanna hear it!" He called back from the shadows of the corridor.

"I'm sorry!" Hinata said, blushing from embarrassment, "I should have carried my own things."

Temari rolled her eyes in a good natured way, "You apologize for everything don't you? Don't worry about Kankuro, he's twice your size and I highly doubt the luggage is as heave as the lazy bastard says it is."

The blond Kunochi lead Hinata up the stairs and down the hall into the darkness where is became a little cooler still, because of the lack of lighting and heat radiation.

A few steps down the hall and Temari took on the roll of tour guide, "Your room is down here at the end of the hall. Mine's the door next to it, Gaara's in directly across from it, and Kankuro is next to him. Each room has its own bathroom but if for some reason you can't use it, there's one five doors in from either side of the hall on both sides. I'm gonna guess that at one point a lot of old people lived here because no one with a properly functioning bladder needs that many bathrooms in the span of one lousy hallway."

Hinata laughed quietly, covering her mouth with her hand. Temari glanced back over her shoulder and grinned, "You'll get used to this place really quick. It looks big and menacing, but the layout is simple. There's a central flight of stairs and five floors. The bottom floor is for cooking and recreation and stuff like that, the other floors are offices and bedrooms. The basement is a maze so no one ever goes down there unless they bring a string to help find there way out."

Hinata hoped Temari meant a figurative maze and not the real deal. The thought of displeasing her husband and getting thrown into a maze to wander until she died of starvation didn't seem pleasant. She shook her head, why was she thinking these thoughts? None of them had shown her any sign of hostility.

Temari opened the last door on the left side of the hallway with an exaggerated flourish, "And here we are: Your room."

Hinata walked in cautiously, looking around at the barren walls and sheets that were a flat white color, the whole room reminded her of a hospital. It was free of cracks and immaculate, the carpet soft under her feet, but it was anything but welcoming.

"We weren't sure what you were into so we left the room bare, me and you can go to the store after you change and pick up paint and whatever else you need to make the room more comfortable for you." Temari said, leaning against the doorway, putting down the suitcases she was carrying next to the ones Kankuro had left when he'd come up.

Hinata nodded, "I'd like that."

"So what colors are you into?" Temari asked conversationally.

"I liked blues and purples." Hinata said quietly.

"Purple and red are my two favorite colors." The blond replied with a grin.

Hinata couldn't hold back her smile, at least she had something in common with one of the notorious sand siblings.

Temari pushed herself off of the wall and started for the door, "I'll leave you to get changed, meet me downstairs and we'll go shopping."

"Alright."

Temari shut the door behind her and Hinata immediately took off the top layer of her heavy kimono, her cheeks flushed from the heat. She hauled her suitcases up onto the bed and started looking for something she could wear to make the heat more bearable. She found a white wife beater and some black Capris with pockets down the sides and decided to change into those, taking down her hair and brushing it out.

She slipped on a pair of black flip flops, not really in the mood to wear her ninja sandals and grabbing her wallet, slipping it into her pocket. As she walked down the hall from which she and Temari had come, she wondered why she hadn't seen more of the Kazekage. True, there really wasn't much of an introduction between her and the siblings, but she thought at least they might start to get to know one another.


	5. Four: These walls are closing in

-Chapter Four-

"Gaara, why are you being so anti-social?" Temari asked quietly as she trotted down the stairs, hopping over the last three, "You should introduce yourself, the girl's nervous enough as it is that she's in a new place with people she barely knows. You could at least ease her nerves a bit by letting her know who you are."

Gaara looked back at his sister coolly, "If she's nervous then I think it's better that I keep away from her. I have that effect on people."

Temari scoffed, "That's an excuse."

He had nothing else to say, he knew she saw the reasoning behind his words, "Let her get used to you and Kankuro first, I think its for the best I'm not in the picture right away." He said quietly.

"Temari?"

Both siblings glanced over to the stairs where Hinata appeared, trailing her hand lightly along the banister to make sure she had something to grab onto in the event she tripped and fell. Gaara looked up at her curiously, his face stoic. Their eyes connected briefly and she tilted her head to the side slightly, almost as if contemplating whether or not smiling was the proper way to greet him. He nodded to her and left toward the kitchen, his coat fanning out at he turned.

She walked over to Temari, glancing at the Kazekage as he receded further into the house, "He doesn't like me much…" She murmured, eyes averted to the floor.

Temari placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her out the door, "Nah, don't worry, he just needs some time to get used to you. You probably have to get used to us too, the whole thing came on a bit unexpectedly, he's coping as bed he can."

Hinata nodded, she understood the feeling, "I can relate."

They walked out and the heat hit them like a wall, knocking the air from Hinata's lungs seeing as she wasn't used to the weather conditions yet. Temari smiled at her, "Don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually. Its not so bad after a while."

"I hope so…"

"I don't sugar coat things Hinata, its just not how I am, none of us do really, so when I say you'll get used to it, I mean it." Temari said reassuringly.

Hinata smiled a little, "I trust you, this whole situation is just…overwhelming…"

"And awkward." Temari agreed with a nod.

Hinata was caught momentarily off guard. Temari looked over at her and shrugged, "I don't sugar coat things remember? I state the blunt truth."

"I see what you mean…"

"Nine out of ten times you'll thank me for it."

Hinata gave her a questioning glance to which she lifted one shoulder in a shrug, "The other time you're going to want to knock me silly for stating the truth when you don't wanna hear it."

"Oh…" Hinata said quietly.

They returned a few hours later from the store with buckets of paint, sheets, curtains and a large mail order of new furniture for Hinata's room. They went up to her room and put all of the bags down, "We did good considering the time it took."

"Yeah, I think so too." Hinata agreed with a small smile.

"I hope you don't mind sleeping in the room the way it is tonight. It's too late to start painting now, its almost dinner time." Temari said apologetically.

Hinata shook her head, "Don't worry, I'm fine with the room the way it is."

"Okay good, lets go see what the cook made tonight."

She caught Hinata's wrist and lead her down the center stairs and into the dining room where four plates had been set. Kankuro was eating already, his hood off and make-up washed clean to expose a handsome face and chocolaty brown hair. The plate next to him was completely cleared as if someone had already eaten.

"Gaara ate early?" Temari asked curiously as she sat down at her seat.

Kankuro nodded, swallowing the large hunk of chicken he'd just inhaled with an audible gulp, "Yeah, he said he had a lot of paperwork at the office and needed to get back before it got too late."

Temari huffed, clearly displeased, "Well that was rude of him, we have a guest."

He shook his head, "You know how Gaara hates that office, I can't really blame him for not wanting to be there later than he has to."

Temari sighed dejectedly, "Yeah I guess so…"

Kankuro stopped eating and looked over at Hinata with a smile, "Likin' it here so far? Takes some getting used to, but after a while it'll start to feel like home. Our village functions pretty much the same way yours does, only occasionally we have to hole up in the basement to wait out vicious sand storms." He grimaced and rolled his eyes.

"I though the basement was a maze…" Hinata said, looking over Temari questioningly.

Temari nodded, "Yeah it is, but right at the bottom of the stairs is a big room, where the washer and dryer are and the storm cellar and what not. You go beyond that and I'm not exactly sure what you'll find."

"I bet it's a secret system of catacombs, and there's a bunch of creepy, grizzly skeletons down there." Kankuro said, his eyes glinting with mischief and curiosity.

Temari scoffed, "Stop reading horror stories all the time, they're going to your head."

Kankuro shook his head indignantly, "Are not."

After dinner, Hinata went to her room and took a cool shower, still not completely used to the heat. She changed into a short, purple night gown but as the night dragged on, the air became cooler so she dawned a pair of black leggings and a grey sweater.

She lay down in her bed and closed her eyes, trying to sleep, but homesickness started to sink in. She couldn't stop thinking about her village, her friends, her crush, all of the people she'd left behind. She wondered if she'd ever see her team again. Sometimes ninja from Konoha visited, she'd done so a few times herself, but it wasn't often that it was the same team multiple times in a year.

She opened her eyes and the walls started to spin, the ticking of the clock on the wall becoming louder and louder with each passing second. She stood up and stumbled out of bed, hand out in front of her to keep herself from tripping or bumping into anything. She opened the door to her balcony and leaned over the edge, hands gripping the railing, waiting for the world to stop spinning.

She sank to her knees, hands shaking, still clutching onto the cool metal of the banister. She leaned her head against the metal bar, entire body trembling, tears running down her face, she hated feeling like this and desperately hoped it would stop.

Without warning her stomach lurched painfully, she barely had enough time to stand up and lean over the railing as she threw up violently, shoulders heaving each time she wretched. Once she had emptied everything her stomach had previously held, she fell back down to the floor, curling into a ball, head on her knees, and cried.

Her emotions were a mess, nerves making her sick. She wanted to go home.


	6. Five: Once upon a Midnight Dreary

-Chapter Five-

Gaara walked out of his office and into the darkness of the night. Being well past midnight, the streets were silent, empty, almost every light in the village was off. Now was the time he could walk through the streets, when he could walk as Gaara, not as the Kazekage, and knowing no one was there to judge him.

The night air was cool against his skin, soothing away the stress he'd been feeling lately. For a moment he cleared his mind, forgetting everything, even the fact that his future wife was now living in his house. But that thought wasn't absent for long.

His cerulean eyes snapped open, he remembered what she'd looked like when he'd seen her coming down into the foyer to go shopping with Temari. They was her skin was so pale, so smooth. The way the clothes clung perfectly to her every curve, flattering her in all the right ways.

He shook his head slowly, she was beautiful, even he could admit that. But relationships that lasted were seldom built on attraction. Attraction was the stuff of short, meaningless flings, not long lasting relationships. He could not trust a woman because he thought she was attractive.

He closed his eyes and sighed, lifting his face towards the sky and slowly and staring up at the full moon that hung overhead, casting everything in a silvery glow, making everything look surreal, untouchable.

_How fitting._ He thought, rolling his eyes, _This whole situation is something out of a bad nightmare._

He took his time getting back to the mansion, taking every detour he possibly could. He arrived in time to see the Hyuuga lurching over the railing of her balcony. At first he thought she was going to throw herself over the edge, but he saw her shoulders heave and then she threw up. Gaara couldn't help but wrinkle his nose in distaste, that wasn't very attractive.

He dissolved into sand and reappeared silently on the roof before she noticed he'd seen her. He sat down and gazed up at the moon, listening to the sounds of her quiet sobs. He could feel his heart ache for her, if only a little. She'd been thrown into this situation, probably without much prior warning, and forced to live with strangers, one of which she was going to marry in three years whether she was happy or not.

And right now it seemed to be 'or not.'

_Its all new to her, maybe she's just overwhelmed and needs some time to adjust. _He thought in an offhanded way.

The sobs quieted after a few moments and then there was total silence. Curious, Gaara walked over to the edge of the roof and glanced down, seeing the heiress collapsed on the balcony, her pale skin only more placid under the moonlight.

_I should leave her there…if I help her and she wakes up she'll think I was stalking her or something…but…I can't just leave her out here while the temperature continues to drop…_

Gaara sighed in resignation, there really was no avoiding what needed to be done. Silently he jumped down onto the railing, stepping off and onto the floor of the balcony. He glanced at the girl for a moment, waiting to see if she'd wake up. Her chest rose and fell evenly, save for occasional sputters left over from her crying. He knelt down and passed a hand in front of her face, she remained asleep.

Cautiously he slipped a hand around her shoulders, lifting the top half of her body, leaning her head against his shoulder so it was supported. He then slid her other hand under her knees, lifting her easily off the ground. He watched her face for a short time, seeing if she stirred. Still she remained asleep. He walked her over to her bed and set her down, covering her with a throw blanket. He walked out onto the balcony and glanced back at her sleeping form, no doubt she'd wonder how she got into her bed come morning.

He closed the doors to her balcony and hopped up onto the roof in one graceful bound, sitting down and looking up at the moon, remembering how light the heiress was, how soft she felt in his arms. His closed his eyes and shook his head. It was attraction, nothing more.


	7. Six: Don't say ain't

-Chapter Six-

Hinata woke up the next morning, half expecting to be in a hospital diagnosed with hypothermia from falling asleep outside. Instead she found herself in her room, tucked into bed, door to the balcony closed and latched.

_Now that's funny…I don't remember getting up and closing the door…maybe Temari came in to check on me last night and helped me into bed…_She thought to herself.

She sat up slowly, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and standing up, waiting a few seconds before deciding to move, still feeling dizzy and weak. She could tell today was going to be tough.

Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door, "Hinata? Are you up?"

"Yes." She replied, a little louder than usual so that her voice could be heard through the door.

Temari came in with the buckets of paint and looked around, "This room is so bare…I can't wait to get to work on it. I even got Kankuro to help with the painting so it shouldn't take long at all."

Hinata tried her best to smile, she wasn't looking forward to painting when she barely felt well enough to stand, "That sounds great." She said, hiding her emotions flawlessly, for once.

Temari nodded in agreement, "Why don't you get changed into your painting clothes and come down to get some breakfast and then we'll get started?"

Hinata shook her head, "I'm not that hungry, so we can start right away…but, I don't really have any painting clothes."

Temari left the room and came back in a matter of ten seconds with a black t-shirt and some white, Capri length sweat pants, both of which were smeared with paint, "These should fit you."

"Thanks."

Hinata headed into her bathroom to change while Kankuro and Temari laid down drop cloths and taped the bordering of the walls. When she came out the room was completely prepared for painting.

"I have a confession to make." Hinata started quietly.

Temari looked up from the bucket of paint she was stirring, "What's that?" She asked curiously.

"I've never painted before…well, other than on a canvas…"

Temari waved her hand dismissively, "Well, this is nothing like that, you use a brush ten times larger and it's not about delicacy, though you want to be careful."

"Alright…"

"Here," Kankuro started, "I'll show you."

He dipped the tip of his brush in the paint, "See, you only need a little bit of paint and then you use up and down strokes like this. You don't want to reach too far or they get sloppy, you have most control when the movement is comfortable."

Hinata followed his example, dipping the tip of her brush into the paint and applying it to the wall.

"Wait," Kankuro put a hand out to stop her, "Slow down a bit."

He demonstrated the correct way to paint the wall, "Like this."

"Oh…"

Hinata slowed her motions, copying him. He grinned, "See, its not so hard when you get the hang of it."

She nodded, smiling softly, "It's kind of…fun."

Kankuro laughed, "Its fun the first couple times, but then when you get to the point where you have to paint things regularly, its not so fun anymore."

Kankuro, Hinata and Temari spent the majority of the day painting and laughing, getting to know each other. Hinata still felt ill but was able to push the feelings aside enough to paint. Until she froze mid-stroke, dropping the brush onto the drop cloth beneath her and swooning to the floor, hand on her forehead.

Kankuro reached out and grabbed her before she could hit the ground, setting her down slowly and inspecting her face carefully, "You look pale…er than normal…are you feeling okay?"

Temari smacked him across the back of her head with her paintbrush, leaving a lavender splotch in his hair, "Of course not you idiot! She almost fainted!"

Hinata shook her head, "I think the fumes are just getting to me, I think I need a moment outside, maybe a drink of water."

Kankuro went to grab a glass of water while Temari helped her out onto the balcony, "Maybe you're hungry, you haven't eaten anything today, so that might be why you fell…"

"I don't think so, I've just been a little off today, I'm not hungry. Just a bit dizzy, nothing some air won't clear up." Hinata replied quietly.

"Maybe you should stop painting for the day. Me and Kankuro can finish up the rest, we've just got to paint the trim." Temari offered.

Hinata looked down at her hands, "But I wanted to help…"

Temari shrugged, "If you're not feeling well, there's no sense in making you even sicker by forcing you to continue to work. Once you're feeling a little better I'll take you down to the living room and you can lie down in there while me and Kankuro finish. I know you want to help but don't try and argue with me, its just not going to work."

Hinata smiled softly, "Alright, I guess I should be thanking you, not fighting with you about it. I'm being ridiculous."

Temari shrugged, waving her hand dismissively, "Painting's fun the first couple of times, I never wanted to stop either."

"Its not that, I just…feel like I'm being a burden…"

Temari rolled her eyes, "Please Hinata, if you were a burden, believe me Kankuro would have started complaining hours ago."

"I would not!" Kankuro said indignantly, handing Hinata her glass of water, "I'm not that much of a jack ass."

"Yes you are." Temari said simply, ending the discussion quickly.

Kankuro grumbled incoherently while Hinata took small sips of the water, feeling slightly better at the fact that she was getting something into her system. Eventually she was well enough to stand up without swooning, "I think I can make the trip down stairs now…" She said quietly.

Temari nodded in agreement, "I think you'll feel a lot better when you get down stairs and away from all of the paint fumes."

"I think so too." At least, she hoped she would feel better, wondering exactly how much of her fainting spell was actually caused by inhaling paint fumes for a couple hours, with the windows open at that.

Once she was situated on one of the living room's plush couches, Temari brought her a small plate of crackers and some ginger ale, "Here, eat these slowly, sometimes your stomach is a bit…weak after you faint, so try to eat something light."

"And here's a bucket incase those crackers decide to make their way back up." Kankuro said, placing a mop bucket in front of her, to which Temari's reply was a sift punch to the face.

"Ow! You bitch, what was that for?! You want her to blow chunks all over the carpet?" Kankuro cried, shielding his face from any further abuse.

"There are nicer ways to present a bucket to someone who isn't feeling well, you probably made her queasy just by putting it like that!" She turned to Hinata and smiled, "Did that make you uncomfortable? I'll hurt him for you."

Hinata quickly shook her head, smiling, she didn't want him to have to go through any more abuse because of her, "I have a little sister, I'm used to that kind of thing."

Temari nodded, glancing back at Kankuro in a warning gesture, "Watch what you say." She said through clenched teeth.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Kankuro murmured, glancing off to the side.

They left Hinata alone soon after, going back up the stairs to finish the room so that it could dry with all of the windows open and hopefully be aired out enough to sleep in, or else she'd been sleeping on the couch tonight.

Not that she minded, Hinata thought in an offhanded way. The couch was extremely comfortable, it just didn't feel appropriate to be sleeping on a couch in such a formal home, even considering some of its occupants.

She munched on the crackers she was given, finding that her stomach handled them well enough. Something in her mind told her not to eat, that it wasn't worth eating. But she knew that was the part of her that wanted to give up, to show weakness, and she was not about to let that part of her have control. She was going to prove to everyone that could amount to something, and help keep the peace between the two villages.

Temari came down to check on her about an hour later, "We're just cleaning up now, feeling better?"

Hinata nodded, "Much actually."

"That's good to hear, I'd hate it if you were sick, though we have access to some pretty amazing doctors. I'll be back in a few minutes."

She turned to leave but Hinata stopped her, "Hey Temari, thanks for helping me out last night."

Temari stopped and backpedaled, "What do you mean?"

"Didn't you help me into my room last night when I fell asleep on the balcony?" Hinata asked, tilting her head to the side curiously.

Temari shook her head, looking confused, "No, I didn't know you fell asleep outside. I'm glad someone did bring you in though, you would have frozen to death, it gets ridiculously cold around here come night time."

"Then was it Kankuro?"

Temari shrugged, "Maybe, or maybe it was Gaara…though I'm banking on Kankuro, its not like Gaara to do that kind of thing, he'd feel like he was invading your personal space or something."

"Really?" Hinata asked quietly.

Temari nodded, "He's distant with people and extremely conscientious of personal space boundaries. For all we know it could have been one of the servant as well. Maybe one of them saw you from outside and went to help you."

"Oh, that never even occurred to me. I just assumed you'd came in to check on me and helped me into bed when you found me asleep on the floor."

"Nope, I did no such thing. Though I would have if I had seen you."

Hinata couldn't help but smile, "Thanks."

Temari shrugged, "Don't mention it, you'd probably do the same for me. Now, I'm gonna go and wash this paint off, you can get back to resting."

"Alright." Hinata leaned back against one of the soft pillows placed on the couch, no doubt used normally for decoration, and closed her eyes, falling into a light sleep.


	8. Seven: Long way to happy

-Chapter Seven-

Gaara was in the office bright and early to work on his stack of paperwork. Halfway through the morning his ballpoint pen had run out of ink…for the third time, and Gaara had to scour his office to find another, which as fate would have it, there weren't any left. So then he had to send one of his secretaries to go and get some for him while he waiting, sitting idle and loosing valuable time.

He drummed his fingers on his desk in agitation, things were not going his way this morning.

A knock and the door pulled him out of his brooding, causing him to straighten up and sit properly in his overly large, leather chair, "Come in."

"Good morning Kazekage-sama! I've got your pens!"

Gaara's eyes widened a considerable amount at the woman who walked into the room. She looked to be somewhere in her late twenties to early thirties and had long, maroon colored hair that was left hanging loose to frame her face and piercing blue eyes. She was tanned, had a pretty smile, and a killer body to boot, her large bust was noticeable though concealed by her modest clothing which consisted of long, black pants and a grey, thick strapped, tunic-length tank top accompanied by a blue coat with the symbol for 'life' on the back in kanji, and some deadly stiletto heels.

"Who are you?" Gaara asked rather unceremoniously.

The woman just smiled, "I'm your new personal assistant, my name's Mai."

Gaara couldn't remember the last time he'd had a personal assistant. The last one was over a year ago, and she'd retired due to old have, having served the Kazekages of Sunagakure for as long as she could remember. Since then they'd had a good deal of trouble finding a replacement when spare ninja needed to be utilized elsewhere throughout the village.

"What rank are you?" He asked, his composure back in place.

"I'm a special-jounin ranked officer." Mai replied with a grin, "Bet you never would have guessed that huh?"

To that he had no reply.

"Well, is there anything you need done?" She asked as she handed him the box of pens, "Documents that need to be filed, errands that need to be run?"

Gaara was surprised by how easygoing she was acting around him. Even some of the fiercest ninja were intimidated by his very presence, but she didn't seem to care. Either she was oblivious or an extremely good actress, those were the only two conclusions Gaara's mind could come up with.

He snapped out of his daze and handed her a small stack of papers, "These have been completed already, they can be filed."

"Okey dokey then Kazekage-sama, I'll get right on that and be done in a flash."

Gaara sat back in his seat, still holding the box of pens she'd presented to him. Mai was definitely more energetic than those working for him, and seemed to be sincere, but that wouldn't last for long. As nice as they started out in the beginning, once they were around him long enough, facades started to crack and crumble, people's true feelings of terror and suspicion shown through, even if not as severely as when he'd first come into power.

He took a pen out of the box and placed the rest in the top drawer of his desk, pulling another document off of the large stack before him and reading it over, signing it and adding it to the now empty bin labeled 'done', sighing at how large the 'not done' stack was in comparison.

Other than Mai's frequent intrusions, Gaara had no interruptions and got through his paperwork fairly quickly. At least she knocked before barging in…_I might even get home in time for dinner tonight._

There was a knock at the door, three quick raps, before the door swung open, his new assistant had become extremely comfortable with him in the few hours they'd been together, "Kazekage-sama, I brought you some lunch seeing as you neglected to eat when everyone else did." She said, presenting him with a boxed lunch.

He stared at it for a moment, "Where did you get that?"

She shrugged, "I went home and made it for you while I was on my lunch break. Someone's gotta look after you, you're still a child you know, a teenager, but not yet an adult, even you have all this responsibility. And children have to eat."

"I'm not a child." Gaara said frostily, glaring at her.

She set the box down in front of her and placed her hands on her hips, "Really now? Then what are you? You're certainly not an adult."

Gaara was taken aback, no one had ever had the audacity to talk back to him, especially not to tell him that he was wrong about something. He blinked.

"Speaking of children, you have to see a picture of my daughter!" She squealed, pulling a picture out of her pocket and changing topics, "See, isn't she just the cutest thing? I mean, I know I'm biased because she's my kid and all but I mean come on, tell me she's not cute."

Gaara glanced at the picture and nodded slowly, the toddler was a spitting image of her mother, down to the smile.

"The sweetheart knows no strangers, she's such an angel, I mean, she can be a brat when she's tried, but she loves everyone. I'll have to bring her in so you can meet her, I know she'd love you." She rambled with a grin.

That was another first coming from this woman. No one in their right mind would bring their child near him for fear of corruption, possession or some other ridiculous superstition. Honestly, what was he going to do with a child when he was barely an adult himself? _Damn…_He thought glumly, he'd just admitted to her calling him a child. What was the world coming to.

She stopped talking and pushed the box further towards him, "I'll stop talking and let you get back to work so you can get ahead before those stupid hags make me bring you another ream's worth of paper to sign. But think about what I said Kazekage-sama, it's okay to have someone else to look after you every once in a while, even when you govern over an entire village."

_Yeah, the last time I allowed someone else to look after me, they turned and tried to kill me._ He thought darkly as she left the room. He looked at the boxed lunch for a few seconds more before knocking it into the trash, going back to his paperwork, he had no doubt it was poisoned. No one other than his siblings had ever been kind to him, he doubted people were going to just start out of the blue. It just wasn't how things worked.

Gaara finished his paperwork with time to spare, the sun hadn't even gone down yet. He set the last of the documents into the 'done' box, which was now filled to the brim, and stood up, shaking out his cramping hand. Oh how he hated this part of his job. He pushed his chair into his desk and walked out onto the street, noting how there were still people out and about. Some glanced over in his direction, others were used to his presence and continued on with their business.

"Going my way stranger?"

Gaara turned to see Mai walking towards him, shopping bags on her arms, "You're out awfully late, you must not have a lot of free time huh?"

Gaara shook his head, "There's a lot of paperwork involved in what I do."

"Tell me about it." She said, rolling her eyes.

She walked past him and motioned for him to follow, "Come on, my apartment's on the way to your mansion, we can walk together."

Gaara followed, catching up to her easily, "Where's your daughter?" He asked with mild interest, "She's too young to be in the academy right?"

Mai nodded and smiled, "Yep, she's staying with her grandma until I go and pick her up, my mom lives a few floors up from me in the same building so it's like having a round the clock baby sitter."

Gaara nodded.

"You know, for a Kazekage, you're awfully quiet…" She mused thoughtfully, "Not that that's a bad thing…you'd just think as an influential figure you'd be more opinionated in your conversations."

"I like to listen to other people's opinions before voicing my own, though this situation isn't really something where my opinion matters." He said, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"Your opinion is always important, but I guess it was a trivial topic to start a discussion on…" She said, placing her finger against her chin thoughtfully.

"Well," She said eventually, "This is my stop, I'll see you tomorrow Kazekage-sama! Good night."

"Mom!"

Mai looked up to the 4th floor of the building where a little red-headed toddler was straining to see out of the window, "Hi mom!" She screamed.

"Hi baby!" Mai called back up, looking back at Gaara with a grin, "Isn't she friggin' cute?"

Gaara lifted the corner of his lips in a half smile, turning and continuing on down the street as Mai rushed up the stairs to greet her daughter.

He arrived home a few minutes later, walking in the front door and shedding his large gourd that he'd donned leaving his officer and leaned it up against the wall. He turned towards the living room and froze, the Hyuuga heiress was asleep on the couch, hair pooled around her face like a dark halo.

She looked better than she had last night, though not by much. Her skin was still a shade too pale, dark semi-circles ringed her eyes as a result of her almost sleepless night. He watched her for a few moments, listening to the sound of her deep, even breathing as she slept, gaze traveling over the smooth contours of her face, subconsciously memorizing every little detail. Only when he realized what he was doing did he turn away.

"You're home early."

Temari came out of the kitchen, carrying a glass of water and a half-eaten apple, "I didn't expect you to be home for at least another few hours."

Gaara shrugged, "I've managed to catch up and get ahead, so I thought I'd come home and relax."

"Or try to anyways." Temari said, rolling her eyes. She knew her brother was a restless spirit, he had trouble settling down enough to relax.

Gaara nodded in silent agreement.

Hinata stirred from her spot on the couch, eyes opening slowly. She sat up and bowed her head to him, "Greetings Kazekage-sama, Temari."

"Hey Hinata," Temari greeted, "Feeling better?"

"Yes."

Gaara nodded in greeting before turning to the stairs, "I'm going to take a shower, I'll be down for dinner." He said quietly.

"Alright, see you then. Can you send Kankuro down though, it's his turn to do the dishes." Temari called after him.

She could vaguely see his head incline as he agreed. She sighed, how were him and Hinata ever going to get a long if there was no interaction?


	9. Eight: Sleep tonight

-Chapter Eight-

Tonight had been another quite dinner between Hinata, Temari and Kankuro. Gaara had decided he wasn't really hungry and would make sure to come down at another point in time to grab some left overs before it got too late. Hinata had a feeling her presence still bothered him. Though she couldn't blame him. As awful as it was to admit, the feeling was mutual.

She sighed, hiking her way up the central stairs to her room for a shower, the strength of the fumes had faded considerably, but there would was no doubt she was going to end up sleeping on a couch tonight. She walked into her room, and stepping through to the bathroom, taking a quick shower, and dressing into a white tank top and some purple sweat pants. She tucked her hair back into a bun before slipping on her grey sweater and stepping out onto the balcony.

"You shouldn't be out here with wet hair, you'll catch a cold."

Hinata jumped, looking up at the roof, seeing Gaara perched on the edge, sea foam eyes gazing down at her, "I was only coming out for a moment." She said quietly.

"Not going to be sick again are you?"

Hinata's eyes widened considerably, "That was you last night?"

Gaara nodded, "It would have been cruel to leave you out here, you would have gotten sick," He shrugged, "…or worse."

Hinata nodded, "Thank you."

The Kazekage said nothing.

Hinata dawned a look of realization, "Oh, I have something for you."

Hinata turned and ran back into her room, coming out with a small jar of herbal healing salve. She hopped up onto the roof, kneeling down beside Gaara, "Here, I made this for you, and some for your sister and brother too, but it must have slipped my mind when I arrived."

Gaara took the salve and nodded, "Thanks…"

"It works best on minor wounds like scrapes and burns. But if you put it on the edges of bigger lacerations, it works well as a disinfectant." She explained quietly.

"Alright, I'll make sure to tell Temari and Kankuro how to apply it…" He said, his voice empty.

"Um…I have a question…" Hinata said timidly, regressing back to her old, rather annoying habit of prodding her index fingers when nervous. For the most part she'd eliminated the annoying tendency, but on certain occasions, it came back.

"Go ahead." Gaara said, glancing over at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Well I was wondering if…well maybe I could resume my rank as a ninja in this village…if that's permitted…" Hinata couldn't meet his gaze, blushing from embarrassment of the request.

"I don't see why not. You're not a slave, you're allowed to do whatever you want with your free time so long as you don't defect from this village. You'll just have to stop by the office tomorrow so that we can put your file into the ninja registry and give you a headband to distinguish you as part of the Sand."

Hinata nodded, lifting her gaze from her hands, folded in her lap, to the face of her…dare she say it? Future husband…Hinata winced at the thought. Even though the wedding wasn't happening any time soon, the thought was no less unsettling, especially at the rate things were going between them. It almost felt as though there was a tangible wall around him, keeping her out.

She'd heard all of the stories surrounding the enigmatic man that sat before her, witnessed first hand the terror he could instill with just a glance. But now she couldn't feel that killer instinct, weighing down on her with suffocating force. Now, there was something else, something just beyond the barrier of his emotionless face…

…Loneliness….

She sighed quietly, watching as the gentle breeze played with his brilliant red hair and ruffled his clothing. His pale skin shone with an unearthly glow, but it suited him. The night was his element, his time to thrive.

Without thinking, Hinata reached out and traced the lines of the tattoo on is forehead, transfixed by the way it stood out against his milky skin. She didn't realize how much he tensed at her touch.

He snatched her hand, his fingers wrapping completely around her wrist, pulling it away from his face, "What are you doing?" He eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Hinata blinked, realizing what she'd been doing, and then turned bright red, "Kazekage-sama! I'm so sorry! I didn't realize…I must be tired…"

She placed a hand against her forehead, closing her eyes, "I haven't been feeling well, forgive me."

She stood up, tugging her wrist free from his grasp, and jumped off of the roof, onto her balcony below. She closed the glass doors and drew the curtains, leaning against the wall, chest heaving. What had she just done? Reaching out and touching the Kazekage without permission like that. He was probably furious.

She his her face in her hands, breath coming out in ragged gasps, "What have I done?" She whispered.

She slipped down so that she was sitting against the wall and closed her eyes, calming herself down. Now was not the time to overreact like a freak. Once she was sure she could walk without losing her cool, she went into the bathroom and splashed water on her face, trying to get the flush to fade.

_I'm just going to pretend this whole thing never happened. Maybe he'll do the same…maybe he won't remember…I doubt that…_

As she climbed into bed, her stomach was a ball of nerves, clenching painfully in her abdomen as she laid down. She highly doubted that she was going to get much sleep tonight.


	10. Nine: We have 200 couches

**-Chapter Nine-**

**Gaara sat on the roof long after Hinata had left. On the outside he looked calm, emotionless, nothing was out of order. But on the inside he was nothing short of utter turmoil. Why had she touched him like that? Why had his protective barriers let her touch him so intrusively. He barely knew her and tried to keep his guard up, but even subconsciously, he knew there was nothing threatening about her. If anything she was kind, sometimes unsure of herself, but that quality was almost….what? Endearing? Gaara scoffed, he didn't find things endearing, people couldn't be endearing. At least not for long because inevitably, they were going to, at some point, turn and stab you in the back. Gaara didn't find that aspect of human relationships very endearing.**

**Finally deciding that he was hungry enough to eat, Gaara slipped off of the roof onto the balcony in front of his room and went down the hall through the living room to get to the kitchen on the other side. As he passed by the couch, a hand shout out and touched his thigh. (There were very few times the young Kazekage had screamed in his life and had he had any less composure, he sure as hell would have shrieked like a little girl then and there.) He jumped, visibly hopping back about a foot, and turned to look at what had breached his personal space.**

**A pale hand stretched out over the arm of the couch, hanging limply against the side. Cautiously, Gaara stepped over to the side, his suspicions confirmed when he saw the Hyuuga Heiress, tossing and turning in the throws of a fitful sleep. Gaara watched her for a moment, noticing the slight rise and fall of her chest as she leaned back against the plush pillows of the couch. He could tell by her breathing she wasn't very deep into sleep, she probably wouldn't be for the rest of the night. As comfortable as that couch was, it was a couch, not a bed, and it probably wasn't the most comfortable thing to sleep on.**

**Deciding that he wasn't quite ready for another awkward encounter with the strange girl sleeping on his couch, the Kazekage turned away and proceeded into the kitchen before she had a chance to wake up and see him watching her. He doubted that help their tense situation any, not only was her future husband reclusive and anti-social, but he also had stalker-like tendencies. (Yay!) That was definitely something to tell the in-laws.**

**Gaara tried to stop thinking about the whole thing before he could let it get ahead of himself. With this whole new arrangement, he felt so tied down. Sure, he'd wanted to start connecting with humans on a friendly level, trying to get the people he watched over and protected so diligently to think he was something other than a cold-blooded murderer. But Gaara was slow to trust, and when it came to him, other were the same way, progress was going to be slow and take years, but eventually, he was determined to have people see him for who he truly was. But bettering his human relationships didn't really mean get married. Possibly, he thought, that when he was older someone could learn to love him, and maybe he could love them in return. But now, glancing back at the woman in his living room, realization hit him like a brick: Gaara was unlovable.**

**Why else would the council have set up an arrangement like this? To keep war from breaking out? Not necessarily, they could have married off any number of warlord's sons and that would have done just as well to keep the peace, Suna warlords were an intimidating people, to cross them would be like a curse settling upon your family. No, the reason they set up an arranged marriage was because from the day he was born and Shukaku placed into his body, they knew no one would be able to love him. That's why they called in a girl from another country, someone who knew very little about him and was loyal to her clan, shy and willing to do anything to preserve the peace. She had no will of her own, no choice in the matter, and that was the only type of affection Gaara was ever going to become acquainted with in his life, forced, unfeeling, and fake.**

**Gaara stopped, halfway through opening the fridge and let the door fall away from his grip, suddenly he wasn't so hungry. He stood up straight and closed his eyes to compose himself, running his fingers through his short, vermillion hair, trying to pull it together before his did something stupid. When was the last time the Kazekage had allowed himself to cry? To feel pity for himself? He honestly couldn't have answered that question even if he'd wanted to, he couldn't remember the last time he'd let himself be weak.**

**He walked back into the living room, Hinata had rolled onto her stomach, one leg hanging off the couch, both arms out in front of her, she still looked extremely uncomfortable. She'd probably have been better off just sleeping on the floor. Slowly Gaara approached her, reaching out and tapping her lightly on the shoulder, "Hey." He whispered, "Hinata, wake up."**

**He paused. Hinata. He allowed his mind to register the fact that he'd allowed himself to say her name. Out loud at that, in her presence. Would she be offended? Though surely he had the right to address her as such, he out-ranked her by a long shot. By why did it feel like it was doing something he shouldn't? Like her name was something more than just what people called her. Like he needed permission to address her in such as casual way because her name meant that much.**

**She stirred lightly in her sleep, turning over onto her back , her eyes fluttering open. She looked up, eyes groggy, though instantly shooting up and alert at the sight of the Kazekage, "Yes Kazekage-sama?" She asked politely.**

**Gaara froze, why had he woken her up in the first place? He grappled his mind for the reason which had left him as soon as it came, leaving him struggling for a good answer, "This couch is going to give you a bad back if you sleep on it…" He said quietly. (Thank you captain obvious!)**

**Hinata smiled and shook her head, "No, I'm fine Kazekage-sama. You've been so kind to me, allowing me to stay here and adapt, you've even allowed me to paint and make renovations to the room I've been given, the least I could do is not complain about my temporary sleeping conditions."**

**Gaara motioned for her to get up, he really didn't know why he was being so forward with her all of a sudden, "Its no trouble, we actually have an unused bed in the house that I was going to offer you. You'd be much more rested for tomorrow when you have to come to my office and fill out all of the paper work, that's best done with a clear head." Gaara rambled, thinking up a logical excuse.**

"**Oh," Hinata looked pensive, "Well okay, if you're sure Kazekage-sama, I'd love to sleep in a bed tonight, the couch is a bit…stiff," She stopped when she realized that she was complaining, "But it's a lovely couch when you're not sleeping on it."**

**Gaara resisted the urge to smile. (A believe me when I say there was a lot of resistance to keep our loveable insomniac's face stoic.) This woman had seen some of the worst things the world had to offer. She was a ninja, even if he didn't know her that well he knew as well as anyone that shinobi experience the death of comrades, of charges, and people in general. it's a tough life, one that doesn't come without burden. Though Gaara could tell that even through all of the negative things the Hyuuga Heiress had seen, she'd seen some of the beautiful things too and that allowed her to keep her outlook positive, even in some of the worst situations. Gaara admired her for that.**

**Slowly she stood up and stretched, joints cracking in protest to her movements and the possibility of having to go back to sleeping on the couch.**

**Gaara turned and started walking down the hallway, Hinata hadn't realized he left and had to jog to catch up to him, "Where's the room?" She asked quietly, "No too far out on one of the wings I hope, I'd hate to make you walk all over the house just so I could have a comfortable place to sleep…"**

**Gaara shook his head, "No, it's a short walk, near your room." Came his flat reply.**

"**Oh…ok."**

**Gaara opened the door to the room and gestured for her to enter, not going in himself, "You can sleep here tonight, no one really uses this room so it won't matter if you stay in here tonight."**

"**Thank you Kazekage-sama." Hinata replied with a smile and a bow.**

**He lifted one shoulder in a shrug, face completely devoid of emotion, "Don't worry about it. The room hasn't been slept in for years, no one's going to mind."**

"**As long as you're sure…"**

**Gaara nodded, turning and walked back down the hallway towards the kitchen.**

**Hinata watched him leave, waiting until he'd completely disappeared down the stairs before turning and walking into the room Gaara had shown her.**

**The room consisted of a beige carpet with maroon walls and black trim and curtains. The bed frame was black and the bed was maroon and beige. Along the wall was two black doors, one probably lead to a closet and the other to a bathroom, accompanying them were two dressers and a mirror.**

**She walked around the perimeter of the room, knowing it was rude to be nosy but not being able to help herself. There were no pictures on the walls and the room smelled clean, almost new, as if to stress how little it'd been used over the years. She opened the first black door and almost jumped. She'd half expected to find a closet, instead there was a full bathroom, complete with a shower and tub. Quietly she closed the door and went over to the other one, gasping when she finally managed to get it open.**

**There, hanging on a hook on the door to the closet was the Kazekage's robe. Across from that, on hangers along the back wall of the closet, the clothing consisted mainly of blacks and reds. Hinata had no doubt in her mind whose room this was now. She almost didn't believe it.**

**The Kazekage had allowed her to sleep in his room? Where was he going to sleep? Then she remembered him saying something about how the room was never used. Did he sleep somewhere else? Did he not sleep at all? Hinata had heard roomers, many roomers, about the mannerisms of the Kazekage, of his violent history as a cold-blooded murderer, that he was an insomniac, even some that were clearly false, even if you've never met him. He was an intimidating person, it was easy to see how he could make people cautious, but scary enough to make people think so terribly of him? To accept him as their leader but not allow him to put the past behind him?**

**Hinata thought the whole situation was hypocritical. But she wasn't originally of the Sand and it wasn't her business to get tangled up in politics. Not yet at least, she'd barely been in the house a week, she wasn't about to start a village-wide conflict because she didn't feel as though some of the people here weren't treating their leading with the kind of respect her deserved.**

_**Though maybe he does deserve it…**_

**Hinata instantly regretted thinking such mutinous thoughts. The Kazekage had been kind enough to allow her to live in his home and even gave her his bed when she had no place to sleep other than a stiff, rather uncomfortable couch. When she looked at the Kazekage, she didn't see a tyrannical killer or a violent person. Yes, she was extremely intimidated by him. But when she just stood back and looked at him, he looked like a lonely teenager who wants nothing more than to be accepted. Maybe even loved…**

**Hinata walked over to the bed and pulled back the covers, slipping inside and laying down on the pillow, a strange jolt of nervousness spiking through her stomach. She knew she was going to be alone tonight, and knew she was going to be alone in the morning when she woke up, but soft cotton of the sheets set fire to her skin in a way she couldn't really describe, something she'd never really felt before. And the feeling stayed with her long after she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.**


	11. Ten: Somebody's watching me

-Chapter Ten-

Gaara was out of the house early the next morning, taking advantage of the fact that no one was out on the streets so early in the day, save for a few elderly people sweeping the sidewalk in front of their houses and shops or wiping down the windows. Some tensed when they saw him, some nodded in respect. One elderly woman was opening her produce stand, making sure everything was neat and orderly. Gaara glanced down at the fruit and his stomach rumbled.

He walked over to the stand slowly and looked at the fruit, "Excuse me." He said quietly.

The woman, momentarily started, looked up from the fruit she was tending to and smiled, "Good morning Kazekage-sama, how may I help you this morning?"

Her face was so wrinkled and weathered with age, Gaara honestly couldn't tell if the smile was forced or not. For all he knew should could be revolted by his presence, she wouldn't have been the first. He pointed to the red apples in the front of the stand, "Could I have three?" He asked in a monotone.

"Oh certainly." She pulled out a plastic bag and dropped the large, impeccable apples into the bag, handing it over to him.

He handed her the appropriate amount of money and thanked the woman, walking the rest of the way down the street to his office. He closed the door and took an apple out of the bag, biting into it as he started reading through his paperwork. Once he'd made a good dent in the large pile, he looked over the missions available and started assigning appropriate ninja squads. At the beginning of his career as kazekage, he would have had to look each squad up and check their stats, but as the years grew on he'd committed their strengths and weaknesses to memory.

By the time the elderly secretaries started filing into the office, Gaara had assigned all of the day's missions and was well on his way to completing the first stack of forms. Three knocks at the door alerted him that his secretary had arrived, bright and early, as he'd expected.

"Good morning Kazekage-sama!" She said brightly. Today her hair was up and she was dressed in black pants and a white blouse, a wide red belt cinching her waist. Her heels made a clacking noise against the tiled floor, jarring his out of the peaceful haze the quite morning alone had bestowed upon him.

"Good morning Mai." Gaara said, looking over at her unenthusiastically, "You're here early."

She shrugged, "Well I saw you walked to the office a few hours ago while I was taking care of my daughter, she had a terrible nightmare, so I decided that I'd come in to keep you company and make sure you weren't working yourself to death, but it looks like those secretaries get here even earlier than I do. God, does anyone know the meaning of a nine-to-five job anymore?" She asked, hands on her hips.

"The work day is longer for political officials." Gaara said, not looking up from the document he was filing out.

"Well, that aside, is there anything I can do for you?" Mai asked, clapping her hands together and rocking back on her heels expectantly.

The young kazekage motioned to the stack of documents he'd already filled out, "You can file those for me. And bring the mission assignments to the council so they can tell the squads assigned that they need to prepare."

Mai nodded, picked up the papers and smiling, "I'll be on my way then, see you in a bit!"

As soon as Mai left, Gaara remembered that Hinata was coming in today to receive her Sand headband and register as a shinobi of Sunagakure. She reached down into the drawer beside him and pulled out the registration forms, setting to fill them out.

_Name…Hinata Hyuuga. …gender, female…Birthday…I don't know…Eye color, white, hair color, blue/black, complexion, fair…height…weight…_

The further the young kazekage progressed into the registration forms the more he realized how little he new the woman who was living in his home, whom he was expected to marry sooner rather than later. She seemed shy but willing enough to talk when he was around, and yet he still knew close to nothing. She'd been there for almost a week now and the only thing he could say he knew for sure was her name. He sighed, pushing the papers off to the side and going back to his other paperwork, there was a lot of work to be done if they were going to get to know each other.

The thought halted Gaara, his pen poised just a hairsbreadth above the paper. Did he want to learn more about her? Did he want to create an emotional bond so when she saw him for all of his faults and imperfections and turned away in disgust he'd be left alone with yet another gaping wound in his heart to tend to in hopes of healing but knowing that it probably never would? The though scared him to no end. He thought he would be used to rejection by now, accustomed to the revulsion people often felt when in his presence. But he knew that if it was himself taking the time to nurture the bond, the chasm would be that much greater when he was left alone.

He dropped the pen he was holding on his desk, running his hands through his hair and closing his eyes, noting how his hands were shaking ever so slightly. He had to stop thinking about these kinds of things, they were going to bring him to ruin. No one could ever truly love someone like him. They could accept him for who he was but acceptance was not affection, acceptance was easier, love took time and persistence, something no one would ever want to waste on him.

He looked back at Naruto, someone who could connect with him on a level few people could. He had gone through exactly what Gaara had in his youth. Naruto hadn't let them get to him, he'd climbed through the ranks and gained not only the acceptance, but the love of his village. People looked up to him and, though he could be annoying at times, expected him to go on to bigger and better things. Even Gaara, who wasn't around him much, knew that the blonde shinobi was going to be the hokage one day. Everyone could see that.

Gaara at one time had thought he'd done the same thing, had thought he had beat out the feelings of others by killing them and not letting them get to him. But later on, he realized they had gotten to him in the worst of ways. He'd been crushed by their glares and snide comments and done exactly as they'd expected him to, lash out and become the cold-blooded murderer they all thought he was destined to be. Even today, realizing how much he'd allowed the people's predictions and accusations to control him caused bile to rise in his throat. He placed his head on the desk, willing the nausea away.

The quick knocks at the door alerted Gaara that he was no longer alone to wallow in his thoughts. He was, for once, thankful for his assistant's frequent interruptions. In times like these, they were probably going to be one of the only things keeping him front drifting off into insanity.

Mai came into the room before he had a chance to speak, smiling brightly, as usual, "I'm back kazekage-sama!" She looked at him curiously, "You're looking a little green…"

Gaara looked at her for a moment and shrugged, "I feel fine."

She looked at him closely for a moment and then shrugged, "If you're sure. Oh! I forgot, someone's here to see you…something about ninja registration."

She walked back to the door and opened it, ushering Hinata in, "Here she is."

Hinata walked in a bowed briefly, "Good afternoon kazekaga-sama." Hinata greeted with a small smile.

Gaara nodded in greeting, pushing the unfinished stack of papers in her direction, "I started filling them out…but my other paperwork was starting to pile up so I had to stop."

She nodded, "That's fine, it was nice of you to start it for me, you really didn't have to do that, especially if it got you backed up…"

Gaara lifted one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug, "It was nothing, I'm always backed up, it sometimes seems as though they never want me to leave this office." He said dryly.

Hinata lifted her hand before her mouth to hide a laugh, knowing the Kazekage's office wasn't a place to make light of things. She finished filling out the paperwork and handed it over to him, "Okay…"

Gaara glanced briefly at the form before reaching down into one of the drawers of his desk and pulling out a black headband, setting it down on the desk in front of her, "You'll start as soon as an appropriate mission comes up, we'll set you up on a team on jounin and chunin. You're strengths are in jutsu and medicine right? You'll be a good addition to one of our shinobi squads."

Hinata tried, and failed, to hide a smile of pride, "Thank you Kazekage-sama."

"You're welcome." Gaara replied in a monotone.

Hinata looked down at the metal plate of her Suna headband and tied it around her neck, just like her older one. It wasn't the traditional way to wear it, but Hinata liked being subtly different, "I should be going now, Temari wants me to finish decorating my room today so I can finally sleep there. She wanted me to ask you if you'll be home in time for dinner tonight or if she should put your leftovers in the fridge."

Gaara thought for a moment, then looked over at his stack of papers before nodding, "I'll try to be home before dinner."

Hinata nodded, "Okay, she'll be happy to hear that, she's making something special, she's been in the kitchen for hours and it barely three o'clock. Well, see you later Kazekage-sama."

Gaara stayed impassive has he watched her walk away. Mai stayed silent the whole time, "She's cute…" She mused, letting the subject drop there, knowing her boss wasn't really the kind of person to let others in on the happenings of his personal life.

Gaara looked over at her blandly, "She's part of the peacekeeping arrangement and came to live with me and my siblings earlier in the week." He said, as though he needed to explain as to why a woman was living with him and his family.

Mai almost smiled at how much like a teen he acted when he didn't realize it. He looked up at her with a look bordering bored and innocent, as though his walls were falling, though only just a bit. She clapped her hands together and inhaled through her teeth to break the silence, walking over to his desk briskly and grabbing a stack of completed forms, "Well, I'll go and get these done for you so you can be home for that nice dinner your sister's cooking up right?"

Without waiting for him to reply, she turned and flounced out of the room, her usual bouncy, though slightly more contemplative self.

Gaara looked down at the forms Hinata had filled out before leaving, reading over the things he'd missed. Her height, her weight, date of birth, family, first ninja squad, missions, skills, strengths etc. He would never have admitted it, but he was vaguely (very, very, VERY vaguely) intrigued by the heiress residing in his home, associating with his siblings, and finding more ways to confuse and fascinate him with each encounter.


	12. Eleven: Call me by my name

-Chapter Eleven-

Hinata hauled her mattress off of the bed, leaning it up against the wall, next went the box spring. Only the bed frame was left in place, which she proceeded to carry (though considering the size, a good portion of it dragged) it to the other side of the room, setting it so the head board was flush against the now lilac wall. She then pushed the box spring back over to the frame, setting it down and laying a new bed skirt over it before adding the mattress, then making the bed with the violet sheets she'd chosen from the interior decorating store. She placed a nightstand on either side of the bed, a matching chest at the end that held things like extra pillows and extra sheets. She set up lamps on the night stands, placing a books she started reading on the one closest to the side she'd be sleeping on, then worked to drag the dresser and mirror over to the wall straight across from it where the bed had been. She grunted with effort, but against the carpet, the massive piece of wood only scooted an inch or so.

"Need some help?"

Hinata looked over toward the door to see Kankuro peeking his head in, face devoid of making, dressed in a simple white shirt and come black pants. Hinata wasn't generally one to appraise the appearance of other people but she was honestly surprised to find that underneath the makeup and the hood that made him look like he was hiding cat ears, he was actually quite attractive.

She nodded once, smiling a little, "Yeah, I can't lift this on my own, I thought I could push it but the bottom is catching on the carpeting."

Kankuro walked in and grabbed the other side, "On the count of three. One…two…three, lift!"

Kankuro lifted his end like it was nothing, but Hinata, being built more for speed and agility than strength, had to give a little extra effort to keep her side leveled with his. The dresser only seemed to get heavier once it was off the ground, though that was to be expected.

"Where do you want it?" Kankuro asked, looking around to try and guess the spot.

"Across from the bed." Hinata gasped, her voice strained from the exertion of keeping her end up, her lower back was starting to cramp and ache.

Kankuro got the message and lead the dresser to the designated spot, setting it down slowly so Hinata wouldn't lose her grip and drop it. He made sure it was straight against the wall and the mirror was secured to it wouldn't tip over, "Looks good, need help with anything else?"

Hinata nodded, "Can you screw a hook into the ceiling above the bed? I'm terrible with battery powered tools and I probably end up drilling a massive hole into the plaster."

"Yeah I can do that, I'll go get the tool box, just pull the bed away from the wall and set up a ladder for me alright?"

"Okay, I can do that."

Hinata set forth to the task at hand while Kankuro ran off to God knows where to find his tool box. A few minutes later her came back, holding it triumphantly, "God the storage closet it a mess, I really have to clean it out one of these days…" He mused, "Hold the ladder steady for me so I don't fall over."

Hinata braced the ladder while Kankuro quickly fastened the hook she'd given him into the ceiling, making sure it faced the right way, "What's this for anyways?" He inquired, stepping down from the ladder and closing the tool box.

Hinata motioned to a shopping bag by the balcony doors, "There's canopy in there I wanted to hang up, but as I said, I don't trust myself with power tools, I can barely use to the non-electrical ones safely."

"I'm surprised your village let you carry kunai, sounds like you'd make them deadly to people other than your opponent." Kankuro joked.

Hinata turned red with embarrassment, "N-no, I'm not….I know how to handle weapons…its tools I'm not good with."

Kankuro reached over and ruffled her hair affectionately, "I'm just kidding, you have to be at least a little bit competent to become a jounin."

"Why does it still sound like I'm being insulted?" Hinata said quietly.

Kankuro laughed outright, "I have that effect on people, but you're fine, I was just joking, I'm sure you're a good ninja. Well, I'm going to make sure Temari hasn't burned down the house yet. We have a cook and she insists on making dinner once a week, I don't know what she's trying to prove…"

Hinata shrugged, "Maybe she just wants to prove that she _can_ cook. Its one thing to know yourself, but sometimes its nice to have your skills recognized by other people."

Kankuro thought about that and then nodded, "Very true, you have a good point."

"Human nature," She offered timidly with a shrug, clearly not used to having her opinions being considered even the least bit insightful, despite her team mates efforts to try and get her to voice what she was thinking, "Even the most humble people want to be recognized at some point in their life."

"Like you?" Kankuro asked seriously, halting Hinata's thoughts.

Hinata blushed, looking down and away from his inquisitive gaze. He turned and left without saying anything to make her more embarrassed.

Hinata finished cleaning her room quickly, hanging the canopy and pushing the bed back into place before lighting some lilac scented candles and using linen spray to make the faint scent of paint that still clung to the walls less noticeable. By the time she was done with everything, Temari was calling her down for dinner.

She checked herself in the mirror, taking her hair out of the ponytail she had it in and running her fingers through it to comb out the knots. She straightened out her clothes and made sure she looked presentable, knowing that the kazekage may be joining them tonight and that she should try to make as good an impression as possible. She opened the door and walked out into the hallway reaching the stairs just as the front door opened.

Gaara stepped over the threshold and into the living room, setting his large gourd down against the wall of the main entrance running his hands through his vermillion hair, closing his eyes and heaving a tired sigh.

Hinata advanced slowly down the stairs, not wanting to greet him to abruptly. But he must have sensed her chakra or herd her coming because he looked up in her direction, sea foam eyes connecting with hers for a brief moment before focusing on the general area of her face, "Good evening Hinata." He said formally, with a curt nod of his head.

Hinata gave a small bow in return, "Hello Kazekage-sama. How was work?" She hoped that wasn't the wrong question to ask considering how much paper she'd seen on his desk earlier. It really was unfair how much work the Kazekage had to do in a day. It seemed like he hardly had any time to relax.

The corner of his mouth lifted in just the faintest hint of a reminiscent smirk, he was probably thinking about how horrible that question sounded, "I finished most of my paperwork. I also have something to tell you."

A weird feeling of…hope? Anticipation? Something she couldn't quite describe sparked in her belly at the thought of what he could possibly have to tell her, "What is it?" She prompted quietly.

"An A ranked escort mission has just been given to us. One of our feudal lords needs to be escorted to the Mist. Temari and Kankuro are being assigned to the mission, as well as you."

Hinata's hopes fell ever so slightly. What had she been hoping for him to say? Honestly, she couldn't say for sure. Maybe something like he wanted to talk, to get to know her more? They were supposed to me married after all. Even if he wasn't ready to except that fact (she doubted she was even ready to accept it herself), she was living in his house, didn't he want to know something about her? Didn't he feel the least bit curious to make sure she wasn't secretly some criminal out to steal something or murder his siblings? (Though once she thought about it, she didn't really think she could some across as the murderous even if she tried.)

Still, they were going to have to get to know each other eventually and Hinata hoped it would be sooner rather than later, she hated being in such an awkward position. She wished she was more forward about these things. Maybe that would help to break the ice…or maybe that would just cause him to push her away, she didn't really know though she wished she did.

"When does the mission start?" Hinata asked, looking out the window and then back to his face.

"Tomorrow." He said simply, his face emotionless, "The feudal lord needs to get to the Mist as soon as possible."

Why was everything always 'tomorrow'? Couldn't she get a little notice once in a while? Things were always getting sprung on her like this, she barely had any time to prepare. She would never voice her opinions but the fact of the matter was frustrated with always been expected to get up and go at the drop of a hat.

As aggravated as Hinata was, she understood that as a ninja, it was her obligation to protect the people of her village, she was informed of this upon becoming a shinobi. And being an heiress, albeit not as highly esteemed as her younger sister due to her lack of power and assertion as a child, she was used to having people expecting her to meet ridiculous deadlines. Though that hardly meant she liked them, she just knew that protest or question had meant beatings as a child and she quickly learned to keep her mouth shut.

She nodded, glancing off to the side again, "Alright."

Temari peeked in from the kitchen, "Dinner you two!"

Both of them departed to the kitchen to eat before the conversation became any more awkward. If anything, progress seemed to be going backwards.

Hinata was so sick with disappointment and other frustrated emotions, she barely at anything. When Temari questioned her lack of appetite, she said she'd gone out and snacked when she went to buy candles earlier and hadn't anticipated herself to be so full this long after. Temari accepted the explanation with a raised eyebrow but said nothing else.

Gaara briefed his siblings on the mission they were going to go on, telling them exact details that he hadn't mentioned the first time with Hinata.

"The mission is ranked A because the last time Suzuki-dono was traveling somewhere, assassins tried to kill him. We've advised him not to travel but he's adamant. His oldest daughter is getting married to the son of a neighboring feudal lord and he insists on being there."

Temari nodded, "Being as influential as he is, we can't really deny his request…"

"Exactly." Gaara agreed somberly, "So tomorrow then. He wanted to start traveling at six but I told him that was not enough time to adequately prepare. So be at the Suna gates at ten o'clock."

Everyone murmured something to the effect of 'okay' be it alright or otherwise, and finished eating, getting up to clean. Hinata sat down at the table a little longer, pushing her food around with her fork before getting up and bringing it over to the sink to be cleaned.

"I don't usually assign missions like this."

Hinata jumped a good two feet as Gaara's voice penetrated the melancholy haze she'd been in since first talking with him. She turned to find him in the living room, walking down the stairs from the second floor, "What?" She asked unintelligibly.

"I don't usually assign my shinobi missions that they have only a few hours to prepare for. That's not fair to them or the people they're guarding. But the feudal lord is an impatient and influential man, he's not someone we can easily refuse a request from."

Hinata nodded, "I understand."

"I highly doubt this was how you expected to conduct your first A ranked mission." He said emotionlessly, but that 'almost smirk' she'd seen before was there, and there was a certain twinkle of mischief in his eyes Hinata hadn't thought was possible coming from this stoic boy.

Hinata shook her head, answering truthfully, "No, not really. But it would be a lie if I said I've never had to prepare for a mission in as little notice as tonight. There's not much else you can do when the matter is of as much important as this. As frustrating as it can seem at times."

Gaara's faint smirk grew just a little more prominent, "That's one thing I don't miss about going on missions. But then again, I've traded an unpredictable schedule for endless piles of paperwork."

Hinata smiled sadly, "Doesn't the Kazekage get to go on missions?"

Gaara shrugged, his face returning to its completely emotionless state, "Sometimes, when there's shortage of available ninja, usually if it's a mission ranked for an ANBU but they're busying doing something collectively. But I think the last time I went on a mission was over a year ago."

"Do you miss it at all?" Hinata inquired without thinking.

He thought for a moment, looking off past her head, "Sometimes I suppose…" Thought something in his eyes told her he missed it a little more than he let on.

"Tell me honestly." She said quietly, sitting down on the steps near where he was standing and looking up at him curiously, "How much do you miss it?"

Gaara looked mildly surprised at how forward the usually timid heiress was being. Though she had a subtle way of going about it. Her voice was still quiet, her eyes inquisitive but cautious, her posture showing she wasn't exactly sure with her choice of actions.

He sat down across from her slowly, admiring the way the moonlight coming in through the window reflected off the metal plate on the helmet around her neck. He noticed that the light of the moon added a peaceful glow to her pale skin, making her eyes look silver. She looked like something that didn't belong on the ground, a heavenly beauty the belonged among the stars….

He blinked, halting his train of thought abruptly before he could allow his mind to wander any closer to that dangerous territory.

He glanced over at her again, his eyes thoughtful, "I guess I miss the freedom more than anything." He said quietly.

Hinata nodded in understanding, "I know what that's like."

The grandfather clock sounded, telling them both that it was eleven o'clock. Gaara glanced out into the living room, confirming his suspicions, "Its late," He said in a monotone, "You should get some sleep, you have to wake up early tomorrow."

Hinata nodded, "Alright."

She stood up slowly and began her ascent up the stairs, pausing only when she remembered something, "Kazekage-sama?" She asked, looking down at him still seated on the stairs.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for…letting be sleep in your room last night, I hope you weren't the one stuck sleeping on the couch…"

Gaara shook his head, his smirk coming back only slightly more noticeable than the last time, "I don't sleep, don't worry, I wasn't left on the couch."

She was about to ask another question, but then caught herself, realizing how nosey she was being, "Good night Kazekage-sama."

He nodded, watching her ascend the stairs and disappear down the hall.

"You can…call me Gaara…" He whispered to the darkness of the hallway, not being able to say it to her face.


	13. Twelve: On the road again

-Chapter Twelve-

The next morning Temari came in to wake Hinata up. She got dressed into her usual ninja attire, a white camisole over a black fishnet shirt and black pants along with her large black and white jacket. She pulled on her ninja sandals, hopping around from one foot to the next until they were both secured. She put on her back pack and stepped out the door, tying on her head band.

Kankuro and Temari waited in the kitchen for her, eating breakfast. Temari had her fan and Kankuro had the scrolls that contained his three puppets strapped to his back, his face done up in traditional kabuki style. She ate some fruit and bread, not being able to stomach heavy meals this early in the morning, giving each of the siblings some of the herbal balms she'd made on the way to the village.

"Thanks Hinata!" Kankuro said brightly, putting it into his pouch. Temari responded in kind.

They picked up the feudal lord at the front gates of the village, the streets quiet, people setting up their shops and fruit stands for the day, taking advantage of the quiet and cool temperatures that wouldn't come again until the sun went down.

Lord Suzuki, who was already at the gate, free of his normal entourage, accompanied only by his person assistant, was in a terrible mood upon their arrival. He was a tall man with black hair, graying liberally on the sides, and slightly in his mustache. Normally the nobleman would be seen in the traditional, elegant robes of a feudal lord, but today, because of the mission, he'd given those up in favor of simple pants and a t-shirt.

"What took you three so long. I've been here for thirty minutes already!" He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Lord Suzuki," Temari said evenly, "The mission was scheduled to begin at ten o'clock. It's nine forty-five."

"Well had you gotten here earlier we may have been able to leave sooner. My oldest daughter is getting married and I want to be able to see her before I have to give her away to another man. She's not going to be my little girl anymore. This is a mile stone and I want to be able to properly celebrate the occasion. Now, less talking, more walking."

They stayed silent, what choice did they really have in the matter? Once outside the gates, the harsh winds picked up, course sand chafing their exposed skin. Temari, Kankuro and Lord Suzuki were used to the sand's abrasive quality, their skin tough from years working in this element. Hinata however, was not accustomed to the stinging in her now flushed cheeks. Still she kept silent, determined not to be a burden on her first A ranked mission.

"You know that healing balm you gave me?" Temari asked, slowing down to match Hinata's pace, seeing as she flanked the side and Temari was up from, Kankuro in the back, "Use that when we get out of this desert, it'll help a lot. Don't worry, your skin will toughen up eventually."

Hinata smiled a little at that, "I certainly hope so."

"You, blonde ninja, get up here! Do you want someone to attack me from the front?" Lord Suzuki snapped, pointed to the spot just ahead of him. "I'm going to have the kazekage withdraw your pay on this mission if you can't do your job properly."

"How long until we get to Mizu again?" Kankuro whispered in Hinata's ear, "I don't know how long I can take this…."

"About two days, probably two and a half seeing as we'll have to stop overnight. But there's a small village that we can probably make it to in time, if we can do that, it'll be really easy to guard him. If not, we're all going to have to stay up if he's such a high risk."

Kankuro sighed, "I'm used to high maintenance, I live with Temari, but this is ridiculous."

Hinata laughed quietly, covering her mouth with her hand to muffle the sound. Lord Suzuki's head snapped in their direction, his gaze nothing but unbridled animosity, "You two, stop socializing and focus on the task at hand!"

Kankuro jumped back a good foot and a half to get back to where he was supposed to be and Hinata turned bright red, her face going serious and slightly scared in no time flat. She glanced over at the feudal lord who simply chose to glare at her. She swallowed and looked ahead and off to the side, staying vigilant as he'd wanted her to as well as avoiding his scrutinizing gaze.

By the time the group was out of the desert, the sun was only an hour or two from sinking below the horizon. Hinata looked at the expansive forest beside them and sighed, "It doesn't look like we'll be able to stop at that village tonight, there's no way we'll make it in time…" She mused aloud.

"Just as well, if we stopped for the night, I wouldn't make it in time for my sweet Hana's wedding." Lord Suzuki said indignantly, "I'm not stopping until we're at the gates of the Mist."

Temari sighed, "Lord Suzuki, all of us are going to need to rest in a few hours, so we're going to have to at least stop and sit down. We'll get you to Mizu in plenty of time for your daughter's wedding. You'll have at least two days to spend with her before she gets married."

Lord Suzuki said nothing in reply, simply kept walking. For all of his complaining, at least he could keep a steady pace. They were making surprisingly good time.

"Even with a break tonight and tomorrow night," Hinata began cautiously, "We'll most likely make it to Mizu by mid morning of the third day."

As Hinata predicted, they made it to the village hidden in the Mist by eleven o'clock on the third day. Lord Suzuki's daughter, Hana, was waiting at the gates to greet her father. It was almost sweet, the way his face brightened when he saw her. She hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek before telling him about her time in the village and how she was adapting since the last time he visited a few months ago.

Hinata watched them walk away, happy to be in each other's company again, jealousy burning in the pit of her stomach. Why couldn't her father be like that? Why didn't he want to see her, make sure she was safe and at least doing well? She turned away, unable to watch them anymore. She looked over at Kankuro and Temari who were looking for a hotel to stay in while the feudal lord fawned over his daughter. Hinata went with them, getting a room with Temari and tossing her backpack onto her bed before pulling off her coat, "So what are we going to do now?" She asked, sitting down and running her hands through her hair.

Temari propped her hand against the wall and laid down on the bed, closing her eyes, "Well first things first, we both need to shower, then we're free to do whatever we want for a few days until Lord Suzuki is ready to go home."

"Really? Shouldn't we be keeping guard or something?" Hinata asked curiously.

Temari shook her head, "No, the compound that the feudal lord resides in with his family is a lot like your compound at home. Heavily guarded with big walls and protective seals all over it. We'd just be getting in the way." She took some clothes from her backpack and walked over to the bathroom, she could hear the water running from the other side where Kankuro was, "I'll be out in a bit, then we can take a look around the village. Maybe there are some good bakeries or something. I'm dying for sweets. Though fish is probably the main export huh?" She asked, almost sadly.

Hinata nodded sympathetically, "Fishing is really important to Mizu, seeing as water is so abundant here…Aside from the somewhat foggy weather, its actually really nice here, I like it a lot."

Temari shrugged, "Too wet for me, I'm a desert kind of girl. Too much water and I'm not happy."

"I wonder how the Kazekage's doing…" Hinata mused thoughtfully, looking out the window as though she could see straight across to Suna.

"Gaara's probably fine," Temari said dismissively, "He's a solitary person so he likes being on his own every once in a while."


	14. Thirteen: Silently losing sanity

-Chapter Thirteen-

Gaara sat down on the main stairs of the mansion, gazing out at the grandfather clock directly ahead of him, watching the seconds tick by, willing the small, red hand to move faster, if only he had the power to do so. He closed his eyes and breathed a melancholy sigh, even now he could he the ticking of the old clock, antagonizing him, torturing him with the sad fact that he was alone and he hated it.

Ever since Gaara was child, he'd had severe separation anxiety. Having no one for so long, he always liked knowing that Temari or Kankuro were close by, even if he never dared to show it, even now that he was much more social with his two elder siblings. Even when he needed his space and requested to be left alone, it was a comforting thought to know that they were just across the hall or down the stairs, never too far away in the event that he needed something.

_I'm eighteen years old, why am I worried about something like this? They'll only be gone a while, they've gone on missions before, this is something I can handle…."_

But the truth was, he highly doubted he'd be able to handle it. He could remember the first time his siblings had left him alone while they went on a mission. As kazekage he'd not been able to go with them, having to stay in his office and fill out mountains of mundane paperwork, similar to what he did even now. The loneliness he felt in the wake of their absence was enough to cause him to tremble late in the evening. When there were others around, the night was his domain, his comfort. When he was alone, it was his hell.

_Dwelling on such trivial thoughts is going to get me nowhere, I could be doing something productive instead of sitting here moping._

He told himself that, but there was nothing he wanted to do this late at night, or so he told himself. The truth was, he was so caught up in his loneliness he could barely focus on anything else. During the day he had to be strong for those around him. He had to prove to those waiting for him to snap under the pressure of his job that he was stable and that he could do this. But at night there was no one to impress, no one to assure he was fine. At night it was just him and his thoughts, and his mind was sometimes a dangerous place to be.

He stood up slowly, about to go mad from the clock's perpetual reminder of how infinite time could seem when there was no one in his life to take it up. His knees cracked audibly as he ascended the stairs, dragging his feet as he walked down the corridor, collecting so much static electricity he actually shocked himself before his hand came even remotely close to the door. He cursed under his breath, shaking his hand out to get rid of the tingle before trying again.

He walked into his room and closed the door behind him, walking over to his dresser and changing into a pair of pajama pants, leaving his shirt off in the uncharacteristically muggy air. He flopped over onto his bed and stared at the ceiling, noting the faint scent on lavender and lilac on his pillows. He closed his eyes and thought of Hinata. Her shy but determined demeanor set something off in his brain, a signal telling him how much it wanted to protect her, to make her happy. He respected her insight and her kindness, finding so little of it in his life, he knew to treasure the rare moments it was shared with him, hoping desperately that it was genuine. And against his bitter mind's jaded judgment, he knew hers was.

Her skin was so soft, her touch a silky caress. He closed his eyes as he reminisced the time when she'd touched his face, the look of aw and curiosity on her features was enough to set his stomach into a fit of somersaults.

His thoughts then shifted to the image of her leaving the gates with Temari and Kankuro five days ago, how aware she looked, ready to take on the world with a sense of determination only she could possess. He feared for her safety, knowing how many people were gunning for the feudal lord, it was careless and stupid to put her and her sibling in such a position. And yet, who else would he trust with such an important job. He knew that all three of them were capable ninja who were more than willing to aid their village and offer there services. But even on D-ranked missions, he still feared his siblings would come home injured of never come home at all, and that thought chilled him to the bone.

How could he live without his siblings? And now…without Hinata? She'd become part of his life over the time he'd known her and he wanted desperately for her to accept him for who he was and want to be something other than friendly acquaintances/ The thought made him both giddy and terrified. He'd never felt like this for anyone. How could he tell it was something positive for sure? The way he always felt sick and clammy whenever she was around, how it suddenly felt like he had a fever and his skin was too tight, could those really be directed towards a positive emotion?

_That's enough of that, if I think about being sick, those feelings are going to come back to haunt me and on a humid night like this, the last thing I was to be is hot. Its already sweltering._

Gaara closed his eyes and tried to sleep, something he'd periodically done since the removal of his demon and to no avail. It was as though his mind was going a mile a minute. As a child he'd always been tried, staying up had been torturous and near impossible. But with age he'd lost the need for sleep. His body rested when he laid down during the night and his mind learned to race nonstop, a mechanism learnt to help keep his awake. His thoughts were never silenced, always going and going with no intention of stopping.

The silence of the house was deafening. There was no breeze to rattle the windows, not that it would if there was though, they were too sturdy and well-built. The thought was both comforting and unnerving. Gaara's mind was a dangerous place when he was all alone. It was there his murderous tendencies lay in wait, just aching for a chance for his resolve to snap, reverting him to the was he'd been not so many years ago.

Gaara opened his eyes, desperate to find something to distract him. But all he could hear was the faint ticking of the grandfather clock. Was he really hearing it? Or had he lived in the silence for so long his mind has begun its own cadence? A march to his loss of sanity.


	15. Fourteen: Living Season

**-Chapter Fourteen-**

"**Ugh, how much longer until we reach Suna again? I have three daughters at home that needed to be tended to. I've been gone much too long."**

**Hinata resisted the urge to roll her eyes, she couldn't imagine that the good lord's daughters would miss him too much. Though judging by the way his eldest had greeted him, she could have been totally off, "Only a few hours more sir," Hinata said respectfully, having been elected unofficial communicator due to the fact that Temari and Kankuro were at their wits end, having had more than enough of their charge's annoying tendencies and insistent whining, "The gates are barely ten miles away."**

"**Good good." He said dismissively, "Though I wish there were more trees, I feel far too vulnerable while I'm crossing this desert."**

"**That's what we told you in the first place!" Temari snapped, "But you insisted on making this trip anyways."**

"**Well of course I did!" He said indignantly, "You've got to be mad if you think I would miss my eldest's wedding. What kind of father would I be then?!"**

**Hinata cast Temari a glance, telling her to just give up the fight, they'd talked themselves in circles for hours and everyone's nerves were fried.**

"**The chances of an attack this close to the city and in such an open area are slim my Lord." Hinata said quietly, trying to reassure everyone, "And we'll protect you if anything does happen, that's what we're here for."**

**Kankuro rolled his eyes from where he was behind the feudal lord, mumbling to himself about how he'd rather just throw him to some rouge ninja and be done with it.**

**The wind started to pick up, slowly at first, but then with more vigor, whipping everyone's hair and clothing about, stinging eyes and chaffing skin.**

"**Is it a sandstorm?!" Hinata cried out, instantly regretting opening her mouth as she choked on a mouthful of gritty sand.**

**Temari tied her headband around her mouth to keep out the sand, motioning for Hinata to do the same, "The sky was clear a minute ago! Sandstorms aren't spontaneous like this, you can see them miles off! This is something else, but I can barely see!"**

"**We have to keep moving incase this gets any worse!" Kankuro cried, coughing and sputtering as he fought to tear a strip of fabric off of his shirt to tie around his mouth and nose.**

"**This is unacceptable! How am I going to find my way back to the city in such low visibility?!" Lord Suzuki cried, covering his face with his arms.**

"**Don't worry sir, we'll get you there!" Hinata yelled over the howling winds.**

"**I certainly hope so, my daughters-"**

**The lord's words were cut off by the sound of steel meeting flesh and bone. Warm blood splashed onto Hinata from where she was standing, to the lord's left. The coppery scent invaded her senses, sending her heart plummeting into her stomach as everything stopped and started up again in slow motion.**

_**Oh no…please don't let him be dead…**_

"**Hinata watch out!" Temari cried.**

**Hinata ducked as a blade came at her, trying to run to the right but tripping over Lord Suzuki's fallen head. She looked behind her, seeing it roll away, and bile burned its way up her esophagus, making her dizzy. She rolled out of the way and onto her feet in time to avoid another strike. She could see three shapes from within the haze of the sand, all tall and all holding some sort of bladed weapon. Fear gripped her heart like an iron vice, all training and technique leaving her with each shallow breath.**

"**Run towards the city!" Kankuro rasped, voice hoarse from the sand, Hinata was quick to respond.**

"**The feudal lord's dead!" Temari called as the all sprinted, "So just run like hell, only fight if we have to! We're outnumbered and they're probably causing the storm! Maybe they'll leave us alone since they've killed Suzuki!"**

**Kankuro glanced behind him and paled, "Not likely! And they've got friends!"**

**Temari risked a glance behind her and stumbled, falling behind enough that they group of ninja was able to catch up to her. Kankuro swore, yanking the scrolls off of his back and calling out his puppets, "Looks like running's not going to be an option at this point!" He called to Hinata, "We can't leave Temari behind!"**

**Hinata nodded, activating her Byakugan, finding it easier to see the ninja now, "I'm not going to run, I owe Temari that much."**

**Kankuro rushed the ninja who were currently swarming over Temari, knocking them back with his puppets and blowing poison smoke at them, sending them into a violent coughing spell. While they were distracted, he was able to take one out, before another came from behind and knocked him over the back of the head, sending him stumbling into the others.**

**Temari stood up and regrouped, pulling off her fan and snapping it open only to have it blown away in the winds out of her reach.**

"**Don't bother trying to fight us with the wind, its our element, we've honed its power and have complete control, its useless to resist." One of the ninja hissed, advancing on Temari, stalking her like a predator would its prey.**

**Hinata focused her thoughts on those before her, including the fallen attacker, there were six in total, meaning five left. Two were closing in on Kankuro and one two were coming at her, excluding the one currently occupied with Temari. She pulled out a kunai and gripped it in her hand, steadying herself to get her chakra flow going and under her acute control.**

**It was hard to stay focused with the wind whipping her hair in her face and the sand causing her eyes to tear. She could barely see what her opponents looked like, appearing as little more than dark human-shaped figures in her blurry vision.**

_**I'm at a serious disadvantage with such little visibility…**_

**She sighed in defeat, allowing her body to relax into a slump, shoulders sagging, kunai dropping to the ground. She bowed her head and closed her eyes, accepting the fate that was destined to come.**

"**Hinata! What are you doing?!" Kankuro shouted, averting his gaze from his fight long enough to see her surrender, "What happened to no running?! You're just giving up?!" He knocked back his attackers long again, "I thought there was more to you than a coward!"**

**Hinata tried to ignore Kankuro's barbs, though to say they had no effect on her would be a lie, they hurt her more than she'd ever tell him, but she knew the truth, so she tried not to let his lies sink in too deeply. She inhaled slowly, she could see the chakra of her attackers advancing quickly, running at top speed.**

_**Thirty meters…twenty meters…ten…**_

**As soon as they hit two meters Hinata's eyes sprang open. She flung her hands out to her side and did a quick pirouette in the sand, sending out a sharp wave of chakra in the direction of her attackers, separating their torsos from their waists and killing them instantly. She stumbled back, having used a lot of her chakra to get it concentrated enough to cut through flesh and bone so quickly.**

**Temari had finished off her attacker, falling to one knee and holding her arm which had been damaged to the point of uselessness in the fight. One of the warriors fighting Kankuro saw the opportunity and struck, running straight for Temari, blade extended towards her heart. Hinata ran towards them, tossing shuriken, kunai, anything to try and slow down the attacker, but nothing could distract him.**

**Hinata reached Temari and pushed her out of the way, sending her sprawling to the ground. Hinata rolled over to get up but gasped violently as the ninja drove his blade through the center of her chest. Her eyes widened, her breath coming in short gasps, darkness creeping into the edges of her vision as blood filled her lungs, making them feel heavy. He ripped out the blade, drawing back to stab her again but was stopped by Kankuro who made quick work of him, "Hinata!" He shouted, dropping next to her, the blood from a cut on his face dripping onto her skin, "Oh god, Temari she's dying!"**

"**We need to get her to the village. Now!"**

**Hinata was aware of the chaos around her as Kankuro took her into his arms and ran at full speed towards the village, Temari traveling closely behind, holding her injured arm to her body to avoid further damage. Her skin still stung and her eyes still watered but the throbbing in her chest seemed to numb everything else. She tried to focus on her breathing, in and out, in and out. But that soon became impossible as she turned and coughed blood onto Kankuro, her body shaking violently with each wheeze.**

"**Hold on Hinata." Kankuro said, voice as calm as he could allow, "We're almost to Suna, I can see the gates…"**

**Hinata knew that Kankuro was still talking to her, trying to reassure her that she was going to be okay and not going to die. But the darkness was so welcoming, she had trouble keeping herself awake. Eventually she gave in and let the shadows claim her.**


	16. Fifteen: An Apple A Day

-Chapter Fifteen-

Kankuro tried to ignore the blood seeping into his clothing, running against his chest and stomach and pooling at the belt of his pants as Hinata coughed into him, tried not to think of that fact that the frail young woman he and his siblings had grown so attached to was dying in his arms, tried not to think about the horrible names he'd called her and what he'd said about her in anger when in fact she'd only acted like she'd given up, for not giving her enough credit of her bravery. But the truth was, Kankuro wasn't dense enough to ignore the truth that was right in front of him and as he felt a deep breath escape past the blood-stained fabric of the headband Hinata had tied around her mouth and nose as a makeshift mask to keep out the sand, he could do nothing but expect the worst.

The gates were barely fifty meters away, "Temari!" Kankuro called over his shoulder, his voice steady though laced with a panic that was alien and uncomfortable to him, "I think she's dead."

"Well then get your ass moving!" She called, "I'm fine on my own from here, stop holding back so you don't lose me. I'll be alright as long as you can get her to the medical-nins so that they can try to revive her. Just be quick about it."

"Alright."

Kankuro pushed himself to go faster against the fatigue and strain of his mind and body, he knew he had to try and save Hinata's life after what she'd done for Temari.

"Open the gate!" He called to the guards as he neared them, they barely had time to do so before he rushed by them and to the hospital. He used the few seconds it took to get there to regroup, he wasn't about to lose his cool in front of everyone because of the life of a single kunochi, that just wasn't like him.

He rushed through the hospital doors and to the front counter, "My team mate was stabbed, she needs help immediately." Kankuro said in a voice so calm it surprised him.

"Oh my…." The nurse at the front counter gasped, pulling out a gurney from the hallway, "Lay her on this and stand back." She picked up a walkie talkie as she pushed the gurney through the doors to the intensive care unit, "I need the healers and surgeons and a lot of blood transfusions. We have a female jounin with a sever stab wound to the sternum, looks like a punctured lung at a glance but I can't tell for sure…"

The rest of the words were lost to Kankuro as the doors closed, leaving him completely clueless as to what was going on with Hinata. Temari came stumbling in soon after, panting from the exertion of running, her arm leaving a trail of crimson in its wake. Kankuro had to admit he was the lucky one, only receive one laceration that would need sutures and a possible cracked rib or two, otherwise he was in pretty good condition.

"How's Hinata?" Temari coughed, wiping the sand out of her eyes and pulling her headband down so she could breath clearly, her eyes were rimmed with red, irritated and watery from all of the sand, any other exposed skin was left chapped and red, covered in small scrapes and welts as a result of the wind's power.

Kankuro sat down in a chair and shrugged, pulling off his hood and shaking the sand out of his hair, "I have no idea, the nurse put her on a gurney and hauled her off before telling me what was going on. Its probably for the best, though, she shouldn't have wasted time explaining everything to me anyways until we know whether Hinata's going to be okay."

Temari nodded, wincing at the pain caused by her arm, "You're right."

Another nurse came in to take the place of the one that had left with Hinata to take care of Temari and Kankuro, "How severe are your injuries?" She asked, looking from Temari to Kankuro to assess their damage at a glance.

Kankuro motioned to Temari, "She should probably be seen first, I'm alright for the most part."

The nurse shook her head, "We have two doctors ready to see you both and make sure you've suffered no internal damage. Come, let me show you to your rooms."

Temari went into the first room in the hallway they were traveling down, sitting on the exam table as the female doctor started taking her vitals and assessing her arm, wasting no time with trivial questions.

"We expected the worst when for the two of you when that other jounin was rushed into the emergency room, we had doctors mobilized as soon as we could spare them."

Kankuro nodded, "Do you know how she is?"

The nurse glanced over at him and sighed, "No, I haven't been into her room yet, I was told to see to it that you and your sister were taking care of before seeing to anything else."

"Does the Kazekage know of our arrival?" Kankuro asked curiously.

"Not yet, but as soon as we know the definite condition of your whole team, a messenger will be sent out to relay the details of your return to him."

Kankuro nodded, calm on the outside, but on the inside he was nervous, how was his brother going to react when he found out that Hinata was in critical condition? The nurse stopped and motioned him into a room with a doctor and a staff of nurses waiting to assess him, "I'll come back and let you know everything that's going on when business is settled. Until then focus on getting yourself well again." The nurse said, turning to leave as the doctor lead him over to the exam table.

"I'm going to need you to remove your shirt."

Kankuro did as he was told and the doctor checked his breathing and heart rate, "I hear wheezing…lay down please."

Once again Kankuro complied, the doctor palpitated his stomach, moving up his abdomen to the ribs. Kankuro sucked in a pained gasp as he pressed on a tender area, back arching off of the table.

"Stay still for a moment while I take an X-ray of your chest to see which ribs are broken and how many."

The doctor put a lead vest over Kankuro's chest and took a few X-rays sending one of his assistants out to get the prints from the lab. He held them up to the light and examined them closely, "You have three broken ribs on your left side and one on the right, we're going to need to wrap your chest and see to it that the ribs set back into place. Then we'll take care of that gash."

Kankuro tried his best not to make any noise as a nurse came and wrapped some bandages tightly around his chest. She then leaned him back against the table and proceeded to clean the cut on his forehead, "This is going to need a lot of stitches…" She said, looking at the cut closely, "That's surprisingly deep, and looks like its getting infected, having so much sand in it, we're going to have to put you on some antibiotics to keep the infection from spreading."

The doctor came back in and sutured Kankuro's wound closed, putting a band-aid over it and telling him to take a shower, in the hospital, that they would have to keep him over night along with his sister to make sure they his ribs set and that there was no internal bleeding or anything else of that nature.

Once clean, Kankuro walked to Temari's room to check on her, dressed in the plain blue shirt and pants the hospital gave its patients to wear, make-up and hood absent. He found her room and walked in, watching her look out the window, "Hey sis. How ya holdin' up?"

She looked at him and shrugged, "My arm's broken in several places and they had to stitch the nerves back together, its going to be a while before I can use it again. I guess I'm not going to be able to cook for a while."

"What a shame…"

"Oh shut up, at least I try."

"True."

"So what's wrong with you?"

Kankuro shrugged, "Apparently fife cracked ribs and fifteen stitches plus some antibiotics to ward off infection. Any news on Hinata yet?"

Temari nodded, "That nurse from earlier came in and talked to me. She said she was on her way to find you, you must have just missed her. Hinata's been somewhat stabilized, they don't know if she's going to last, but they've managed to repair the lung tissue and close the gap. She's on blood transfusions and they're not sure she's going to last the night, but at least she's alive for the moment."

Kankuro nodded, running a hand through his chocolate-brown hair, "Has Gaara been told yet?"

Temari shrugged, "I know a messenger was sent out just a few minutes ago, but I'm not sure that he knows yet. Soon enough I'm sure."

"How do you think he's going to take it?" Kankuro asked, sitting down at the edge of her bed and leaning forward on his knees.

"I'm not sure. He seems…different when she's around, thought its an extremely minute different. Kind of like he's curious about her."

"Yeah I get what you mean."

"I really don't know…he's such an enigma when it comes to his emotions." Temari mused, looking out the window at the late afternoon sun, "You should probably get back to your room before you get in trouble. I don't want to be considered an accomplice."

"Alright, see you later Temari."

Kankuro walked back to his room and sat down on his bed, wondering how Hinata was doing, if she was conscious, if she was in pain, and desperately hoping she'd pull through.


	17. Sixteen: How Can I Connect To You?

-Chapter Sixteen-

Gaara was seated at his desk when dusk rolled around, sending eerie crimson hues through his window, casting his paperwork in a bloody glow. For some, mainly sailors and those who lived by the sea, a blood-stained night sky was a good sign, but Gaara had a distinct feeling he shouldn't share the same sentiment.

As if on cue Mai came into the room, not her usual, bouncy self. Her heels breaking the silence that settled over the room, "Gaara-sama, I've just been informed that your siblings have been hospitalized while returning home from their mission. Temari has a severe wound in her arm and Kankuro has some broken ribs but neither are unstable…However,"

Gaara's pen stilled, his stomach clenching tightly in a dreadful anticipation he'd never before felt, never knew existed, "There was another jounin with them, a female. She was stabbed through the sternum with a large blade and is in critical condition. Have still been in the operating room when the report was sent and received, there is no information on her current condition or as to whether she survived the injuries."

Gaara felt cold all over, the ice washing over him in waves emanating from his stomach. What was this strange, unpleasant sensation? Dread? Horror? The terrible feeling that gripped his heart like death's embrace at the thought that Hinata might not be alive was almost too much to bear. Still he kept his face as calm as possible. Mai took a tentative step forwards, "Gaara-sama, you're looking pale…are you alright?"

Gaara took a deep breath to calm his nerves, "Just worried about my brother and sister." He said formally.

Mai nodded in understanding, not disclosing the fact that she knew he was only telling half of the truth, "I know what you mean, I used to be like that all the time before my mother retired from her shinobi duties. It was terrible. You should go see them you know, maybe bring them something they like? Although that doesn't seem like the kind of thing you'd do…"

He stood up from his chair, handing her a rather large pile of finished documents, "I think I'll pay them a visit, I'm done with paperwork for today."

Mai smiled kindly, "Alright Gaara-sama, go see your siblings. I'll see that everything it set here before I go home."

"Thank you Mai."

Mai waved her hand dismissively, turning away from him in a careless gesture, "No problem, you deserve a little break once in a while. Especially at a time like this. I promise that the village isn't going to collapse because you went home on time for once in your life."

Without another word he got up and left the office, leaving Mai to tend to her stack of papers. She filed them away quickly and then locked up the office, straightening the kazekage's desk beforehand.

"That boy is so easy to read when he's nervous, its actually kind of funny…"

Mai was pensive walking home, thinking about her boss's mannerisms and how he probably didn't realize how much his face gave away when he was nervous, startled or defensive and how his words spoke volumes when he was uncomfortable.

"Well we know for certain that his siblings aren't the only thing on his mind, that's for sure. He's probably more worried about that pretty little ninja who lives with them, I bet he's quite taken with her…And I bet I should stop talking to myself in public…"

She flashed a smile to an elderly man who was looking at her as though she was insane, "But when have a few funny looks ever stopped me from doing anything?"

Gaara took his time walking to the hospital, nervousness eating his stomach from the inside out. What was he going to find when he set foot in the hospital? Was everyone going to be in a recovery room waiting to see him? Or was someone going to be in a body bad with a DOA strapped to her toe? Gaara winced at the thought. It was very clear to him now that having spent so much time around corpses and death in his youth he was now horribly morbid.

_You just have to stay calm…other people have been run through with swords and lived, this isn't a unique case. She'll be fine…_

But Gaara was having and extremely hard time convincing himself that that was the case.

Temari was the first person he saw when he reached the hospital. She sat quietly in her bed, hair down around her shoulders uncharacteristically. He could tell from the subtle droop of her eyelids every so often that she was exhausted and wanted to keep the meeting brief, "How are you?" He asked quietly.

"I'm alive." She said with a shrug, "My arm hurts though. Just a little."

"How long is the recovery time on the injury?" He asked curiously, noticing how her arm was cast and in a sling.

"About a month, and that's with serious medical-nin attention to fix the damaged nerves. Then there's physical therapy to get the arm to work properly again. It'll be a while before I can go back to going on missions. I should probably just over-see an academy squad or teach a class for the time being."

"I'll have your duties transferred over to the academy tomorrow and we'll get you a teaching job for the time being. How's Kankuro?"

Temari motioned to the wall behind her, "He's three doors down to the left, why don't you ask him yourself?"

Gaara nodded, "Alright, see you tomorrow then…"

"I get discharged in the afternoon, stop by after work to pick your beloved siblings up won't you?"

"I will."

Temari smiled a little, "Good."

Kankuro looked restless in his bed, his face free of make-up but never devoid of an annoyed scowl, "I hate being put on bed rest." He grumbled, arms crossed over his chest. He'd been compliant to all of the doctor's commands, but at this point, it was getting more than a little antsy. There just wasn't enough to do here to keep him occupied.

"Temari tells me you're being discharged tomorrow, you won't have to be bored for much longer." Gaara offered in one of his awkward attempts to be comforting.

"Yeah and I can't wait. Hospital beds are also extremely stiff and uncomfortable."

"Are you done complaining?" Gaara asked in exasperating.

"Yeah I'm good." Kankuro said, glancing out the window, "Hinata's in the intensive care unit. She's alive but they don't know how long she'll be that way. She's still extremely unstable."

Gaara didn't know how to respond to the comment, he just nodded blankly, "That's what I've been told…"

Once he finished up talking to Kankuro, Gaara walked out of the hospice wing and into the ICU. The scent of ammonia was enough to knock him off of his feet. If you thought regular hospitals smelled too clean, the ICU was a whole other level. It was fairly quiet save for the occasional doctor scurrying out of one door and through another, carrying some sort of medicine or x-ray. Hinata's room was at the end of the hallway, closest to the hub where doctors and nurses filled out medical records and chatted idly over coffee so long as things were sound, keeping a trained ear out of the beeping of the various monitors stationed throughout the corridor.

Gaara hesitated outside of the door, hand stretched out to turn the knob. But something inside stopped him. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what was on the other side of the door. Cautiously he pushed it open and stepped inside, gazed over at the hospital bed bathed in moonlight.

Hinata was hooked up to oxygen through a mask, her eyes closed, looking serene. She had various IV's in both of her arms and looked too pale to be real but she was there, and alive by the unsteady beeping of the heart monitor.

It took Gaara a minute to gather up the courage to walk over to the bed and sit down in the chair beside it. He looked at Hinata a little longer, feeling sick to his stomach, before gingerly lifting her hand and cradling it in his own, "I apologize for sending you out on such a dangerous mission, I should have gotten an ANBU squad to see it out." He whispered, gently stroking the back of her hand with his fingers.

"And now you're here and they don't know if you're going to make it through the night. They think you're weak. But I have a feeling you're resilient, you'll see this through. And I'll watch over you…"

Gaara shook his head at the thought. As if he had the right to watch over her after the pain he'd caused her by sending her out on this mission. He should have known better, he hadn't had a chance to assess her strengths and weaknesses for himself, she was almost like a genin fresh from the academy, he couldn't tell anything from just looking at her for certain.

Gaara looked at her graceful, slender hand, finally grasping how forward he was being. He couldn't believe he'd actually had the audacity to reach out and touch her hand, much less hold it. He'd never have done that while she was awake. But why not? Weren't they supposed to become comfortable with one another? She seemed comfortable enough around him and always willing to talk. But why was he so skittish? But deep inside he knew why, he'd never gone through heart break where romance was involved, he wasn't sure if he wanted to risk it. He knew it wasn't the kind of wound that healed over easily, it was a long and messy process.

"We'll see…" Gaara thought pensively, "I think…you may be worth it."

Carefully he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. Her fingers moved ever so slightly, her heart beating just a little bit stronger. Gaara couldn't help but smile at her reaction, a faint up-turning of his lips but it was truly genuine.


	18. Seventeen: Death's Embrace

-Chapter Seventeen-

Darkness was all Hinata could see, everywhere she looked, it was worse that walking around with your eyes closed, this darkness had substance. And inky blackness that seemed to crawl over her flesh like a nest of spiders, tangling in her hair, sliding over her skin and making her nauseous. She held a hand up in front of her face, she could see her hand clearly through the strange darkness but nothing of the shadows that crawled over her. Beyond her hand everything was lost in darkness.

She looked down and saw the gaping wound between her breasts, wide open but not bleeding, keeping the white strapless dress she was wearing impeccably clean. She reached up and touched the wound, the tips of her fingers coming away bloody but she felt no pain.

_Am I unconscious?….Am I dead?_

"You are very close, whether you die here or not is completely up to you."

Hinata's head snapped to the left where a woman was now standing. She had on a glorious white kimono and fell past her feet and pooled around her on the floor. Her hair was black and done up into an elegant bun atop her head, complete with pins of ivory, her eyes were the same pure white as her kimono, void of irises or pupils, not so different from her own. Hinata opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out, not even a strangled cry. The woman shook her head, "The dead cannot talk."

_But you said I wasn't dead yet…._Hinata thought, soon finding this was the only way she could communicate in this state.

The woman nodded, "Yes, but being so close to crossing over to the side of the dead, your soul has been given the properties of those who have passed on. They shall be revoked if you choose to keep living."

_How do you know this? Who are you?_

The woman smiled a little, "Shi."

_Death?_ If Hinata could feel her heart beat, she was sure it would have been beating fast enough to pound straight through her chest.

"Who better to escort the souls of the deceased than the goddess of death herself?" Shi offered the a small shrug.

_How do I go back? _Hinata asked urgently, _There are people I'm not ready to leave behind, so much that needs to be done…_She thought of Gaara, over the time she'd been in the darkness she could hear his voice, feel the touch of his hands, a whisper against the inky shadows crawling across her body, sending them away until his touch vanished. She could do nothing to communicate to him that she was there and that she acknowledged his presence. But she was thankful he hadn't given up on her just yet.

"When you feel a connection to your body, you have to will your spirit back inside your corporeal form. Once your mind and body are connected again, you'll awake from the coma you've been in." Shi said simply, as though it was the easiest thing in the world.

_Coma? How long have I been out? _Hinata asked, not knowing if she could bear the answer.

Shi just shrugged in her delicate way, "I know not. Time in the land of the dead does not flow as it does in the realm of the living."

Hinata could feel the shadows flee from her hand, just at the spot where Gaara usually held it, felt a searing jolt when his lips brushed tenderly against her flesh. She looked over to Shi expectantly.

The death goddess nodded, "It is time, I wish you luck. Stay strong young one, and you will live to see many things in your lifetime. Fail this and you'll end up in my realm for all eternity."

_I'm not going to give up. _Hinata said resolutely.

The goddess vanished, leaving Hinata alone in the darkness once again. She closed her eyes and focused on the hand that Gaara was currently holding, tuned in to the voice whispering words of hope in her ear, telling her that there was a lot left to experience in life and she needed to pull through. Hinata could feel the hand more solidly now, feel the brush of Gaara's soft breath against her cheek. Then, the sensation of hitting a brick wall slammed into her, she gasped, eyes flying open, darkness greeting her vision.


	19. Eighteen: Of Ticking Clocks

-Chapter Eighteen-

Gaara had come to Hinata every night that she had been in her coma, if only for a few hours. Night was the only time he felt comfortable seeing her. When all of the nurses were in the break room, playing poker but keeping a well-trained ear out for the vital monitors, making rounds to check on the patients. Other than that, the hospital was dead, Gaara didn't feel so out of place among the silence..

There he would sit with Hinata and hold her hand, telling her about the day and what Kankuro and Temari were doing. Sometimes he found this useless, wondering why he talked so much with her, especially when she wasn't even coherent. He was usually like a clam, never saying more than what needed to be said but around her…he couldn't' seem to keep quiet. He wanted her to know something about him, which was still a frightening prospect.

Each night he would hold her hand, watch as the moonlight turned her pale skin silver, revel in the sensation of her soft skin against his own more calloused palm. He loved how her long hair splayed about her head like a dark halo, and angel of the night, an angel of his element.

Tonight he sat by her bed as he always did, fingers gently stroking the top of her hand, turning it over to run the tips of his fingers across her palm, watching her hand twitch in response. He was comforted by the fact that she was still responding to physical stimulation, otherwise they would have taken her off of live support by now, she'd been in a coma for too long they said…

Hinata came awake violently, upper body arching off the bed, gasping, eyes wide in an emotion Gaara couldn't comprehend. The abruptness of it call caused him to jump, sending him to the floor, heart racing a mile a minute. He slowly stood up and approached her, watching her look around in disbelief. Gaara took a moment to compose himself.

"Am I…alive?" She asked, looking over to him questioningly.

Gaara nodded, not sure what else to do. This was one of the rare times where shock had put him at a loss for words. And he absolutely loathed the feeling.

"How long have I been unconscious?" Her voice was hesitant, as though she didn't want to hear the answer.

"About a month." Came Gaara's stoic reply.

Hinata reached up to brush her bangs out of her eyes…wait…bangs? Since when did she have bangs? At least ones so long. She ran her fingers through her hair, noticing how it fell back against her spine, almost touching the bed where she lay. It really had been a long time. She shuddered at the thought.

She looked down at her hands and then back up to his emotionless face, "Am I able to leave?"

Gaara shook his head, "Not yet, its still night time. But in the morning the doctors will come in and tell you what they think you should do. Your wound is healing well, I doubt you'll have to stay here much longer."

"Alright." Hinata said, sighing submissively. The last thing she wanted was to be here any longer, the first thing she wanted was a shower, her skin felt stiff and dry against the starchy hospital linens,

"I can imagine why you wouldn't want to stay here any longer, but they just need to make sure you're physically stable." Gaara offered, face still unreadable.

"I know, and I shouldn't be complaining. I did almost die…its just, hospitals make me nervous…"

The corner of Gaara's mouth quirked ever so slightly, "But you're a medical ninja. Where else to train but a hospital?"

Hinata nodded, "True, but that doesn't mean that the experience was an enjoyable one."

"Fair enough."

Gaara stilled, eyes gazing out the window, slowly he stood, "Its time for me to get back to the mansion, I have to get ready to go to the office."

"Good-bye Gaara, and thank you for sitting with me."

Gaara nodded, "You needed someone here, and at night I have all the time in the world. It was the least I could do for sending you out on such a dangerous mission so carelessly."

"But that wasn't your fault." Hinata protested, only to be met with the whisper of sand as he faded into a whirlwind.

A nurse came in, jumping when she saw that Hinata was sitting up right and coherent, "Oh this is good news, good morning Lady Hyuuga!"

Hinata smiled her most charming smile, maybe acting sweet was the way to go, "Good morning." She greeted quietly.

"How are you feeling?"

The nurse came over and checked the monitors before checking Hinata's vitals, "Everything looks good, all vitals are normal and the stitches on your wound are healing up nicely."

"I feel much better, there's almost no pain." She answered honestly, it still hurt to move a little.

"Well I'm going to bring one of the doctors in to do an assessment. You may be able to leave tomorrow if they think you're stable." She said brightly, scurrying out to get another member of the medical staff.

Hinata's heart sank, she didn't want to be stuck in the hospital for another day…Especially now that she was with it. What was she going to do?

The doctor came in and took some blood work, gave her an EKG and checked her blood pressure. He came back with a sheet of results and nodded in approval, "Everything looks to be in order. We'll just have to keep you under surveillance for tonight to make sure that you don't lapse back into a coma. The chances are unlikely but we don't want to take the chance and risk it. It's amazing that you're brain hasn't stopped functioning after being in a out for so long, I wouldn't want to lose you know over a careless mistake."

Hinata smiled through a grimace, "Okay, that sounds like the best plan."

He nodded, "I'm going to go notify the Kazekage and his siblings that you're alright, they've come to visit you almost every day, I'm sure they'll be happy to see that you're awake."

Half an hour later Temari was in Hinata's hospital room, standing at the bed side and asking her questions, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright, my chest still hurts and I have a headache but I feel…stable I guess?"

"Well that's good. We can't wait to have you home again. You haven't been with us that long but I have to say, its pretty boring without someone to go shopping with a to help keep things interesting."

Hinata glanced down at the sling on Temari's arm, "What happened to you?"

Temari glanced down at her arm and shrugged in an offhanded way, "It was from the fight, my arm's pretty much useless at the moment. I do daily physical therapy to try and get the mobility back, but there's still a a lot of nerve damage. I've made a lot of progress since the day it happened, but it's still weak. Nothing as bad as what happened to you though so I'm grateful."

Hinata looked down at her chest and then back up to Temari, "What _did_ happen to me exactly?"

"You mean they didn't tell you yet?"

Hinata shook her head.

"When you were stabbed, your lungs were punctured and parts of your sternum were chipped off and embedded into your lung tissue. The doctors had to extract blood and bone from your lungs and reconstruct them in hopes that they didn't collapse. "

Hinata inhaled heavily, wincing as a pain stabbed through her, "I can feel it…"

Temari glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed, "Looks like I have to get back to my class, I was only able to get away on my lunch break. See you tomorrow, me and Kankuro will come and pick you up from the hospital when they give us the call."

"Alright, bye Temari."

Hinata heaved another painful sigh, turning to glance at the clock. The second hand ticked by slowly. Tick…tock…tick…tock. Hinata threw her head back against the pillow in exasperation. Today was going to be a horribly long day.


	20. Nineteen: I will never let you fall

-Chapter Nineteen-

Gaara tapped his pen lightly against his desk and he read over the mission report for one of his ANBU squads. It was a successful escort mission, no casualties and no attacks on the charge but he still had to look it over to make sure his men were slacking in their details. This particular report was extremely detailed, Gaara was surprised the number of steps it took them to reach their destination wasn't recorded. A silent breath escaped his lips as he finished the report and signed off on it so that the ninja who had completed the mission could be paid for their services and put it on top of the 'done' pile.

"What are you nervous about Gaara-sama?"

Gaara glanced up briefly as he started skimming through the next document, "What do you mean Mai, I'm not nervous."

She grinned like the Cheshire cat, "You're awfully twitchy, tapping your pen against you desk like that, I thought there was a humming bird in here trying to get out through the walls."

"Not nervous, just impatient, this is tedious work that I would rather not do right now."

Mai looked at the 'done' pile on his desk, eyes widening in surprise. She'd just finished filing the first rather large pile…

"For someone who doesn't want to be doing their work, you're going extremely fast today…"

"I want to get home before dinner tonight."

It was then that the thought struck her. The heiress had been released from the hospital, Gaara was probably anxious to get home and see how she was doing. She couldn't help but smile at the thought. Her stoic kazekage seemed to have an ever growing soft side for the Hyuuga residing in his house.

Gaara looked up again, noticing that she was still there, "What's that look for?"

She looked at him quizzically, "Look? What look? I just brought you some lunch…er…late lunch, I haven't eaten myself, I've been so caught up in all the paperwork I haven't really thought of eating. I figured you'd save time if I brought it to you. I made it earlier this morning before I got here."

She placed the boxed lunch on his desk and took the 'done' pile, "I'll have these filed in no time, see you in a bit!"

Gaara glanced at the boxed lunch sitting on his desk. Mai had been persistent, always making him lunch and saying how he should eat because he was still growing and it would stunt his muscle development if he was malnourished. Each day he would accept the box and put it in a desk drawer until after she left and then toss it into the trash, not exactly sure if she'd done anything to it. Now that suspicion seemed silly…but maybe that was just because he was extremely hungry today. He'd skipped breakfast so that he could come in earlier.

Slowly he reached for it and set it in front of him after clearing away his papers to make sure he didn't get anything on them. He opened the box and his stomach rumbled with embarrassing audacity. He was glad no one was in the room to hear his momentary lapse in self control. He took the chopsticks that were neatly tucked into the side of the box and broke them apart, taking a bite of the rice and salmon inside. He was astonished to find that Mai was an amazing cook. He finished the meal quickly and put the box in the garbage, getting to work on the small stack of 'not done' papers he had. Just a little longer and he'd be able to go home.

Within two hours Gaara was on his way home. He finished off the paperwork with hectic determination, his hand cramped and ached from writing for hours on end without rest but it was worth it, for once he was ahead of the game, he could relax for the weekend without having to worry about this week's work carrying over.

Gaara looked around the hazy streets of Suna as the sun drifted down below the horizon. Getting out of work 'early' for Gaara was hardly early for anyone else. Still, he'd be home in time to have dinner with his siblings and have time to interact with them a little before they went off to sleep. Gaara was feeling particularly deprived lately. Now that Temari wasn't able to go on missions due to disability, her job at the academy kept her away from home longer than if she were active. That coupled with Hinata in the hospital and Kankuro having to help Temari with everything left Gaara feeling a little stranded.

He walked through the door and took off his gourd, walking into the kitchen to see Temari instructing Kankuro on what ingredients to put into the soup she was making.

"Be careful with how much salt you put in. I said be careful!" She hissed, dropping the spoon she was using to catch a heaping mound of salt in her hand before it could hit the soup.

"Sorry!" Kankuro said in exasperation, "I'm not good at cooking. The only things I can make are gun powder and poison."

Temari snorted, "You might as well be making poison the way you just throw ingredients into the bowl like that. There's only so much sodium the human body can take." She said sternly.

She glanced back and smiled a little at Gaara, "You're home early."

Gaara shrugged, "I got caught up in the office, I wanted to relax."

"Well then go and relax for a while, dinner's not going to be for a while seeing as I have to do everything myself. That is, unless we all want to die of dehydration from too much salt intake." She said, glaring at Kankuro.

"I said that I was sorry, what more do you want from me?" He said defensively.

Gaara shook his head, looking around and noticing that something was off, "Where's Hinata?"

Temari motioned to the second floor, "She's up in her room resting, its hard for her to walk around a lot without being in pain. Her muscles are also weak from lack of use."

Gaara nodded, walking through the living room and up the hallway to Hinata's room. The door was open and Hinata was walking around…or trying to anyways. Her steps were small, hesitant and extremely shaky. Her knees wobbled and gave out. She gave a startled squeak as she fell to the floor only to get back up and try again. Gaara was awed by her persistence.

"It'd be easier if someone helped you."

Hinata looked up and smiled as Gaara walked into her room over to where she was kneeling dressed in a white tank top and black pants, a change from the hospital Jonny she'd been forced to wear for the past month. Her long hair had been cleaned up, still long but no longer unruly, her bangs were swept to the side and occasionally fell into her eyes.

"I couldn't ask you to help me, you've already done so much. This is something I should do on my own…"

She struggled to get up but she was getting tired, her legs wouldn't support her body very well.

"The doctor said the weakness would wear off once I started using my limbs again, but that's extremely hard to do like this."

Gaara knelt down beside her and took her arm, bringing it across his shoulder, wrapping his other arm around her waist, allowing it to settle just above the curve of her hips.

"When I count to three stand up." He said stoically.

Her free hand braced his side as he slowly counted to three, helping her off of the floor and into a standing position.

"How do you feel." He asked, glanced over at her from the side.

"I feel alright." She said, but her breathing was labored and her entire body was trembling.

"Honestly?" He asked, his face still emotionless.

She let out a strained breath, shaking her head, "No, I'm tired."

Frustrated tears threatened to fall from her eyes as she shook her head, "I hate being weak." She whispered.

Gaara helped her over to the bed and got her to sit down, "You're not weak. Most people would give up in your situation. That fact that you haven't should tell you as much."

She wiped the tears from her eyes before they could fall and smiled at him a little, laughing at how pathetic she probably looked to him, "Thank you, that mean's a lot."

Gaara's heart sped up in his chest at the smile she gave him, kind and genuine. He wondered if she could hear it as well, seeing as it was pounding in his ears. He was suddenly extremely aware of their proximity and of the fact that his arm was still secured around her waist. He was about to pull away when Temari called them down for dinner.

"I'll help you down the stairs."

Hinata nodded, standing up with a grunt and leaning heavily against him, though her weight did little to effect his balance. They walked down the hall to the landing and Hinata stopped, legs buckling, "Maybe I should go back to my room, stairs don't seem like such a good idea at the moment."

Gaara eased her down into a sitting position and let go of her stepping back a bit to assess her. Was he really going to leave her alone in isolation because her body was so impaired from pain medication and weak from lack of use that she could barely walk on her own?

Without another word Gaara knelt down and picked her up, she squeaked in surprise and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, "You don't have to do this, I feel terrible having to have you carry me." She said quietly.

"I wasn't just going to leave you at the top of the stairs to starve while we ate. It wasn't your fault you were injured so let us help you." He said, shaking his head, "You don't have to prove your worth to us by trying to be strong when you're physically unable. We know what you're capable of and we're not going to forget so relax."

Coming from him that comment was hypocrisy. Relax? Right. Since when did Gaara ever have a chance to relax?

Hinata looked down at his chest, though her gaze was distant. Gaara stalled for a moment, had he said something wrong? Had he said too much? Gaara wasn't used to having this much interaction with a person one-on-one, much less a woman. And he knew so little about Hinata. Had he offended her? He couldn't tell…

"You're right, I shouldn't be so insecure about what you and your siblings think of me. You've all been nothing but kind. That was really foolish on my part."

Gaara couldn't help but roll his eyes, "Stop apologizing, everyone makes mistakes." Gaara never thought in a million years he'd been the one on the giving end of that speech. How many times had he apologized to his brother and sister late at night when his demons came to haunt him in the silence? Too many to count. His mistakes were burdens he'd probably carry to the grave and then on to the afterlife at the rate he was going.

Hinata smiled a little, "I would apologize but that would kind of defeat the purpose wouldn't it?" She asked sheepishly.

Gaara's lips curved into the ghost of a smile, "Yes it would."

Gaara was amazed at how light she felt in his arms as he carried her down the stairs. He glanced down at her and noticed she'd lost some weight in the hospital as well, her cheeks slightly hollow, her limbs more slender, the look didn't suit her well, she wasn't meant to look so frail. He helped her get seated at the table, taking a spot next to her rather than across from her, should she need his help.

"How are you holding up Hinata? Not in too much pain I hope." Temari asked as she sat down, Kankuro came out with the soup and served everyone before setting the pot on a hot plate in the middle of the table so they could go for seconds.

Hinata smiled as she stirred her soup, "I'm alright, weak and in a lot of pain but I'm working on it. I've lost a lot of muscle mass, having been sustained on fluid alone for so long, so that's making it difficult, but I'm not about to give up anytime soon."

Temari smiled, "And I'll be right beside you in rehab, trying to get my arm to function properly again."

The rest of dinner was filled with light conversation about Temari's work at the academy and what Kankuro did to make sure security was as tight as ever. Hinata could tell he took pride in the fact that it was he who kept the village safe from harm, though she couldn't help but think of the dark side, the burden he would bear should the guards fail and the village be breached.

Gaara helped Hinata back to her room and laid her down on her beck, pulling the covers out from under her body and over her legs, "Don't get up anymore tonight. I know you want to, but you've put yourself through enough. Sleeping without being hooked up to monitors with the fear of death coming at any moment will help you more than you think."

Hinata nodded, "It just seems strange, I was asleep for so long, and now I'm going back to sleep again. It feels like I should be making up for lost time you know?"

Gaara nodded, "I can't really say I understand, I have the opposite feelings, no sleep and too much time on my hands. But I can say that being in a coma isn't sleeping, you were probably under more stress while you were unconscious than when you're on a mission. Go to sleep, tomorrow we can try to get you walking again."

"Good night Gaara." She said quietly.

Gaara shut off the light and left the room feeling strange, he'd never talked to anyone like that, tried to give them comfort and reassure them with kind and gentle words…the thought was both frightening and elating, and he never wanted it to stop.


	21. Twenty: And I want, And I need

-Chapter Twenty-

Hinata couldn't sleep soundly. She thrashed violently beneath the covers, thinking of her time in that inky void, of the vicious darkness crawling along her skin, threatening to swallow her whole. She clawed at her throat as the blackness consumed her, filled her, her limbs grew heavy, filled with the oblivion from which there was no escape. She let out a strangled cry before finally tossing herself out of her bed and onto the floor, tangled up in a mess of blankets.

She felt warm hands on her frigid skin, a gentle voice breaking through the barrier of the darkness, "Hinata. Hinata, wake up."

Her eyes snapped open wide as she fought wildly to disentangle herself from her cocoon of bed linens. The hands were on her arms, holding her in place, keeping her from thrashing, "Calm down." The voice was stern but soft.

Hinata looked up into a set of deep cerulean eyes, completely emotionless as they assessed her condition.

"Gaara." The name left her lips as little more than a breath.

Suddenly her she felt hot, an embarrassed flush creeping up her neck, staining her cheeks, she couldn't believe that he had actually witnessed her having a nightmare, throwing herself out of the bed no less. She couldn't have been more flustered had she spilled red wine down the front of a white dress.

He disentangled her from the sheets, and helped her get into a sitting position. She covered her face with her hands, thankful that in the darkness of her room he wouldn't be able to tell exactly how red her face was at that moment, "I'm so sorry you had to see that." She managed to squeak from behind her fingers.

"Don't apologize," His voice was quiet as he situated himself in front of her, crossing his legs Indian style, "Your subconscious is probably still trying to cope with the trauma of being in a coma."

Hinata shook her head, running her hands through her hair and taking a deep breath to calm herself, "You're probably right, but it felt so real…"

"Is it something you…want to talk about?" Gaara asked, almost hesitantly.

Hinata looked at him for a long moment before nodding. "Yes…I think I would…"

She leaned back against the bed, "When I was in the coma…I was in this void. The darkness was alive, consuming me, making everything going on outside of my body muffled. I could hear the people who came in…sometimes I could feel them when they touched my hand…" She left out that it was only him she felt, but the thought caused a terrible blush to spread across her cheeks. She pressed on before she could make a fool of herself.

"When I fell asleep I felt that darkness again, I was being consumed by it. All that time left to my own thoughts…I'm not completely recovered yet."

Gaara didn't reply, instead he picked her up and placed her on the bed, straightening out the quilt before laying down beside her though making no contact with her body. She looked over at him with questioning eyes, "Gaara?"

"You need sleep, and you don't want to be alone, so I'll stay here with you tonight/"

She smiled at him, the blush heating up her cheeks with vigor, "Thank you."

She laid back against the pillows and closed her eyes, it took her a while to fall asleep, but when she did there was blissful silence, no murky darkness to suffocate her subconscious.

Gaara looked over at Hinata from his spot on the bed. She was pale in the darkness of the room, her hair standing out against the lavender of the bedclothes. His heart thrummed quickly through his veins at their proximity, he could smell the lilac in her shampoo, the scent calming him, seducing him, making him feel a fatigue he hadn't experienced in years.

He reached out and ran the tips of his fingers along her temple, down her cheek, over her lips and down the graceful slope of her neck. Carefully he leaned forward and lightly touched his lips to the hollow of her throat in the ghost of the kiss he longed to give her, "Sleep soundly, no darkness will come to you tonight." His voice was so quiet he wasn't sure he'd spoken at all.

Why did he feel this way towards her? Why was he so willing to go out of his way to see that she was safe and happy? They'd barely had a chance to really sit down and talk to one another, not that Gaara was really the kind of person one would necessarily _want _to sit down and talk to, but Gaara knew that most relationships started out with introductions and conversation and went on from there.

It was then that Gaara realized, before Hinata, he'd never been attracted to a female. So why was he all of a sudden feeling the strange sensations? Because they were being forced into this union and neither of them had a choice? Perhaps…Gaara thought, but something inside told him the circumstances weren't to blame for his feelings.

He shook his head, such heavy thoughts were probably bad for his mental health….

Over the next few weeks he watched as Hinata's strength returned, keeping an eye on her whenever he could spare the attention. Sometimes she'd never notice he was casually glancing in her direction every so often if they were on the same floor or when he was in his home office he'd scoot his chair over to the window to see if she was outside training. He found his vigilance less and less needed as time went on, though he was reluctant to relinquish the responsibility. He knew he was being over bearing and ridiculous, she wasn't so weak any more.

Gaara got home one evening to Temari making dinner in the kitchen, a large stack of papers she'd probably have to grade from the academy on the counter beside her, "Oh Gaara, could you go and get Kankuro and Hinata? They're out in the back."

Gaara noticed the subdued look in her eyes, she wasn't normally this listless, "Is something bothering you?" He asked.

She was uncharacteristically quiet, "The doctors have called in a favor to Konoha to see if Tsunade can come and try to stop the nerve deterioration in my arm…being that she's now the hokage, its hard for her to make the time to come down here which means that I'd have to go to see her…"

"Then me and Kankuro will go with you and see the lady hokage and get your arm fixed-"

"That's not the point!" Her eyes flashed a familiar platinum, "My arm has been getting worse and worse, my mobility was getting better but the strength was fleeting and I can feel less and less."

She held her hand up to show a nasty looking burn cut across her palm, "I accidentally hit the stove today cooking, I couldn't feel it until I realized where my hand was. I may never be able to be out in the field again."

Gaara really wasn't one to comfort people in their time of need, he was clumsy with caring words, "The academy students like you-"

"I don't want to be forced to do desk work! I'm only twenty-two!" She slammed her fist down, "I think I'll go crazy if she can't fix my arm, I don't know what I'd do, its all I've known…how to fight…how to survive."

"You call this surviving? Giving up?" Gaara's tone was harsh, his eyes icy, "You talk like your arm's already been sawn off, maybe we should just do that and save the trip if you're so certain your going to be stuck in front of a black board for the rest of your working life."

Temari sighed, shaking her head, "You're right I guess…Go get Kankuro and Temari while I compose myself."

Gaara shed his jacket and gourd and walked into the back garden that had a large grassy space for sparring or parties. Kankuro was poised in a defensive stance as Hinata came running up, jumping into the air, reaching for her weapons. She faltered, her expression worried as she changed her stance, using one of his raised hands to act as a spring board to launch herself higher into the air and away from him. Kankuro lowered his guard to seize his opportunity, thinking she'd wasted the opportunity on a move she'd faked out on at the last second. Hinata saw her opening and took the chance, launching three kunai at him, tumbling back to the ground and landing in a neat crouch.

Kankuro narrowly dodged the projectiles, one tearing the fabric of his clothing at the shoulder. He grinned in that cocky was of his, "Your strength is going to be back full force soon, and that was some pretty sneaky thinking, acting like you'd messed up the attack so I'd open myself up. I can't throw a knife straight at that angle, I'd be lucky if I didn't hit myself."

Hinata smiled, "Thanks."

Hinata noticed Gaara first and waved, "Hello Gaara."

He nodded to her, "It's time for dinner, Temari wanted me to let you know that."

"Great I'm starving." Kankuro grinned, "Come on Hinata."

"Alright."

Gaara lead the way into the dining room, Hinata sat across from him, Kankuro at his side and Temari at the head of the table.

"Oh Temari you hurt your hand, let me help!"

Hinata got up and quickly had the food distributed and Temari's hand mended. She sat back down at the table and tied her hair back away from her face, "How was it at the office today Gaara? Did you have a lot of paperwork?"

"He always has a lot of paperwork," Kankuro cut it, "It's all the kazekage ever does. I don't know why they waste strong ninja like Gaara and Lady Tsunade like that by making them hover over a desk all day going blind from reading fine print."

"Well I'm taking leave from the office for a few days. Temari needs to go to Konoha to see Lady Tsunade and Kankuro and I are going to go with her."

"Can I go too?" Hinata asked hopefully, "I'm feeling stronger and I'd like to see my friends…"

Gaara nodded, "You can come."

"Thank you Gaara." She breathed a sigh of relief, "I've been wanted to see my old team so badly."

Dinner continued swiftly and without incident, Gaara was acutely aware of the lack of conversation. Temari stirred her food around on her plate, occasionally picking pieces off of the plate and eating them. Hinata seemed to pick up on Temari's melancholy and was equally subdued, being extremely mindful of her table manners as she ate her food and Kankuro was off in another world completely. Unable to stand the silence that seemed to have a voice of its own Gaara got up from the table and put his plate in the sink, taking the stairs two at a time to his room, shutting the door securely behind him and tossing off his shirt, making a break of his pajama drawer.

Before he could get ten steps in there was a knock at his door, he walked over and opened it to see Hinata looking up at him, "Are you alright? You seem tense…"

"Just tired." He said, shaking his head.

"Well then why don't you take a rest, you've been doing a lot lately, the thought of traveling all the way to Konoha must be overwhelming to you right now."

"It's not that simple…"

"You'd be surprised how much a nap can do for you."

"I don't sleep."

"There's a first time for everything,"

"I can't sleep."

"And why is that?"

Gaara sighed, closing his eyes, "Up until a few years ago I was possessed by a demon, like Naruto and the nine-tailed fox. If I ever fell asleep, the beast would take over. I don't have the beast inside of me any more but what is going to happen if I fall asleep?" He was afraid to find out.

"I'll watch over you." Hinata said quietly.

"I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Then don't sleep, just rest, lay down and ease your mind for a few minutes."

She took one of his hands in both of hers and tugged him over to the bed, "Lay down."

He did as he was told and leaned his head against the pillow. Hinata walked around to the other side of the bed and crawled over to him, sitting down at his side, "What are you thinking about?"

"Many things."

"Well not right now, take a deep breath and clear your mind alright? Just relax."

It was a hard request with her so close. Every time he inhaled he got a breath of her perfume and it was enough to make him dizzy. Relaxing was the last thing on his mind at the moment, but what was on his mind was something he wasn't prone to thinking about.

"You still look like you're concentrating." She said with a little laugh.

"Its hard to relax."

She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair. His eyes drooped a little, his thoughts condensing into only one. Her. But still he wasn't very relaxed. He closed his eyes and willed his body to relax, his joints to settle and his tension to ease but it wasn't happening.

He glanced over at her and wished he hadn't. Her tank top teased him with just the right amount of cleavage at the angle she was leaned over him, her shorts dangerously high up on her legs due to the extreme heat of the afternoon.

"I don't think this is working…" He whispered.

"Hm?" She asked, not hearing his words.

In one swift motion he had her pinned underneath him, her hair fanned around her in that way he found so alluring. He leaned down kissed her throat with an open mouth, tongue drawing lazy circles in her flesh. He could feel her gasp against his lips, he wanted to moan as her back arched, chest meeting his.

He pulled away and looked at her, the way her eyes were hooded, her lips parted, tongue sweeping across her bottom lip. He leaned down and captured her lips, moving slowly. He ran his tongue across her lips and opened them, exploring her mouth slowly, thoroughly. Her hands tangled in his hair, it was enough to send him over the edge and the thought terrified him. He pulled back and shook his head, "I think you should leave…"

Hinata saw the scared glint in his eyes and nodded, combing her hair back and getting up, walking slowly to the door, turning around to glance at him before going into her own room.

Gaara pounded his fists into his mattress, "Why am I so stupid?!" He hissed.


	22. TwentyOne: Homecoming

Chapter Twenty-One:

Hinata's thoughts were everywhere as she thought about the events of the night previous. Sleep was a cruel stranger, teasing her with its welcoming embrace only to back off as thoughts of Gaara assaulted both her conscious and subconscious mind.

She thought of the feel of his lips on her skin, the fire that burned just beneath the surface at his touch. The thought of that kiss sent thoughts running through her head she'd never dared to think before today, not even in curiosity. She'd always been one hundred percent proper, in both mind and body…but now? With Gaara everything changed.

The way he treated her was strange and exhilarating, he was slow and deliberate with his movements, strong but gentle. The act was impulsive and passionate and Hinata blushed when she finally admitted to herself that she hadn't wanted him to stop. But she wasn't going to push him. It wasn't in her nature to do so, and she didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

With a frustrated sigh she got out of bed and took a shower, being less than gentle with her hair, brushing it so harshly that raven strands were left sticking to the bristles. She got dressed into a pair of black pants and a long-sleeved mesh shirt with thumb holes. She pulled on a black sports bra and a jounin vest. Strapping on her weapons and headband, she paced around the room, looking for her backpack. By the time she'd finished backing it was…four fifty-two in the morning. She still had another three hours to kill before they left for Konoha.

By the time eight o'clock rolled around, Hinata was more than ready to hit the road. But the sand siblings took their time in leaving, and they didn't depart until almost nine. Once out of the city walls, the winds picked up. Hinata put a bandana over her nose and mouth to keep the sand from scraping her cheeks. During her time spent in Suna she'd become more resilient to the heat and the sand, but her skin still wasn't tough enough to stand against the winds.

Gaara pressed on ahead of the group, leading them out of the desert and into the forest. He hadn't spoken to her at all since the night before, hadn't even met her gaze. Yet he went about it with grace, and so would she, though the whole situation put a foul taste on the tip of her tongue. She wasn't sure what had gone wrong last night, but she was going to find out at one point or another.

"So Hinata," Kankuro started as the forest literally sprang up around them, going from nothing but sand to a sparse smattering of trees to dense foliage everywhere, "Are you excited to go to Konoha? You haven't been there in a while."

She pulled the bandana off of her face and nodded, "Yes, I'm excited to see my old team mates, although, I didn't really give them a good-bye, so they'll probably be mad at me. But that's only fair, so I'm not really worried about it."

"You just kinda up and left huh?"

She shrugged, looking off to the side, "It seemed best, I'm not very good with good-byes and I know they would have been opposed to me coming."

"Were you opposed to coming?"

Hinata looked over at him, "I was…hesitant, and a little reluctant. But now that I'm here, I'm glad I made the decision, I feel its help me better myself in ways I wouldn't have had the courage to do back home."

"Well that's good, we like having you around."

Well, at least two of them did, Hinata couldn't really tell what was going on inside of Gaara's mind right now. But she could tell by the subtle tensing of his shoulders, that he was listening to their conversation. He didn't want to look interested, but he was.

She smiled wistfully, "I like being here."

The trip flew by with surprising celerity. They hadn't been attacked once by the time they'd reached Konoha. But Gaara was driving Hinata up a wall. At night, she'd try to talk to him, away from the other sibling who had to suspect something by now, but he'd disappear, clearly avoiding her, which wasn't hard when you never slept. Then she'd go to sleep and he'd return by morning to wake everyone up and get them on their way. She wondered how long he stayed gone during the night, probably only long enough for her to fall asleep and avoid confrontation.

They were let into the village gates and escorted to the hokage's office, Hinata looked around the village and her heart clenched a little. She felt like such an outsider, needing an escort to go somewhere she'd been hundreds, if not thousands, of times. She kept her face neutral, but part of her wanted to cry. This was her home for eighteen years, it felt wrong to be on the outside looking in.

"Hinata! Is that you?"

Hinata turned, eyes going wide, tearing up ever so slightly, "Kiba!"

She ran over to her former team mate and launched herself into his arms, giving him a crushing hug, "Kiba!" She found herself at a loss for words as she breathed in his cologne, feeling nostalgic.

"Why didn't you tell me and Shino you were leaving? We would have made the trip with you! That's something we should have done together! As a team, as friends." His voice was stern, but it was clear he was much happier to see her than he was angry about her not telling him.

She looked down at her hands, "Well…it was sudden for me, I found out and then was shipped out to Suna you know? Not much time to really tell anyone, much less hunt you down."

She could feel the sand siblings' gazes on her, she turned to them and blushed, "Sorry!"

Kankuro waved his hand dismissively, "Go catch up, one of us will find you later and tell you what's going on alright?"

"Are you sure?" She looked over to Gaara who met her eyes for the first time in days and nodded to her, his face emotionless. She smiled at him a little, "Thank you!"

"Go have fun." Temari said.

Kiba grabbed her wrist, "Come on Hinata, lets tell Shino you're here!"

Kiba took off running, Hinata laughed as she darted off to join him, having to sprint to keep with him at first, "Kiba, slow down!" She called after him as he took to the trees, hopping from branch to branch towards the river.

Shino was sitting at the bank under a tree, hood down, glasses off, just staring out at the depths when they finally found him, "Shino, look who I found!" Kiba said with a grin.

Shino looked up Hinata, his brown eyes widening in surprise before he stood up and embraced her, much more calmly than his hyperactive team mate, "Why did you go off to Suna like that?"

Hinata sighed, "Hyuga politics, a peace-keeping arrangement of sorts."

Kiba's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean?"

"I was promised to Suna early on and they came to collect on the bargain I guess…"

Kiba growled, "That kazekage ordered you like an object?"

Hinata shook her head, "No! It wasn't him, honestly I don't think he had any idea it was happening. But I've lived with him and his siblings and it's been really nice. I miss Konoha's climate and foliage, but Suna is not without its charm."

"What was the arrangement?" Shino asked, looking up at her, now with his sunglasses on.

Hinata shrugged, "Honestly I couldn't tell you. No one's really told me anything. I've been made a jounin there and have gone on a few missions, basically living out life normally." She couldn't bring herself to tell them of her engagement to the kazekage. She knew Kiba would take it the wrong way, neither of them had been brought up in a clan where polotics and manipulation ran rampant.

Kiba looked at her closely, "The Suna vest looks strange on you." He said with a smirk, "But you're more confident now…something's different. You're not as quiet. Whatever you're doing over there, I think its good for you at least…"

She smiled, "I think so too. I'm happy there. I mean, it was rather difficult to adjust at first, but now its home to me and I have no regrets."

"At least you still get to be a ninja, I was afraid they'd have you married off to some warlord's son wearing kimonos and serving tea to guests all day. That's not you at all."

"No, I'd probably spill the tea everywhere."

Kiba laughed, even Shino chuckled a little, "We miss you Hinata, the team's not the same without you, I've gotta say."

"I miss you guys too. It's weird, the last mission I went on was with Kankuro and Temari, we're not as in sync as you, me and Shino are, so in that respect it's very strange. "

"Six years together will do that to ya." Kiba said with a cheeky grin.

She laughed and shoved his shoulder, "Don't be so cocky."

"We should see if there's any way we could go on mission with you once in a while. I know that's pretty unheard of, but these are special circumstances, and ninja's work best with their team mates."

"I'd like that, I've always dreamed of going on my first jounin mission with you guys."

They talked for hours, Kiba giving Hinata all of the village gossip, like Sakura and Ino's latest quarrels and who got promoted, who has students now and so on and so on. Hinata told them about her adventures in Suna, about the sun and the wind and training with Kankuro and how she was getting better at throwing weapons while in the air.

The sun was setting on the far bank of the river by the time things started to wind down. Hinata realized how late it was and what little color she had drained away from her face, "Oh dear, its late. I should have checked in with the sand siblings by now…"

"That's why I'm here."

Hinata looked up in the tree above them to see Kankuro grinning down, "Temari's been admitted to the hospital and is having test run on her arm to see the extent of the nerve damage and deterioration and I've checked out hotel rooms for the three of us," He tossed her a set of keys, "That's your room. The inn's down the street from the hokage's office, you know the place?"

"Yes."

"Okay, cool. Well, that's about it, I'll catch you later." He saluted her and disappeared into the foliage.

Hinata turned back to her team mates and smiled, "Well, what should we do now?"

"How about dinner," Kiba offered, "We could go to the ramen shop…or the sushi bar?"

"Sushi sounds amazing right now." She said with a laugh, "You agree Shino?"

"Sounds fine to me."

"All right!" Kiba said, pumping his fist in the air, "Sushi it is!"


	23. TwentyTwo: Dude looks like a lady

Chapter Twenty-Two

"So what's it like living in Suna? I mean, I know we've been there on missions, but we've never stayed more than a day. Are there really bad sandstorms there?"

"Well, not since I've been there, other than outside of the city walls anyways, but I can't say it's never going to happen, I haven't been living there long enough. Its typically sunny and hot, but at night it cools down, sometimes to below freezing, you'd think it was about to start snowing! It probably would if it rained regularly."

Kankuro leaned back against the booth he was sitting at to get better access to Hinata's quiet voice. He sat in the next row over, disguised in a henge, (and a woman at that, just to be safe) and listen to her tell her two ex-team mates about Suna. He was curious to hear what she'd have to say about her new home, she seemed to like it well enough when she was there, but in the comfort of friends, sometimes one revealed their true feelings. Hinata seemed sincere, though it was clear she missed the foliage and the rain, and her team mates, Kankuro could tell that Hinata was adjusting to life in Suna and really was beginning to like it. The thought made him smile a little, he'd be lying if he said he hadn't grown attached to the Hyuga heiress since she'd come to live with them, it was nice to have someone to talk to that's wasn't your sibling. Sure, he had friends, but Hinata was more open and honest, he could ask her things he wouldn't feel comfortable asking a group of meat head ninjas.

"Well we're definitely going to come and visit you regularly now that we know where you are, even if we can't go on missions together anymore, we're your team mates, that's never gonna change."

Kankuro felt bad for Hinata, having to adapt to so much, including the aspect of working with foreign ninja she knew nothing about. It was an awkward situation when you're the new kid in a squad, especially past the chunin level. By then you should know everything about at least two of the people who have your back, but Hinata had gone in cold, and the result had been almost fatal. She was going to have to be put on simpler tasks until she got to know the other ninja of the village.

"What are you doing?"

A woman slid into the seat across from him, she was slight with fair skin and long brown hair with bangs hanging down across her forehead. He would have been surprised, but the dark rings around her eyes were telling, and those bangs were hiding the scarification that never went away, "I could as you the same question."

"I'm not the one dressed as a woman spying on a team mate catching up with her two friends." Came the soft reply.

"I'm not the only one dressed as a woman Gaara." Kankuro pointed out, a smirk plain as day on his face.

"I didn't want to interrupt the conversation. This is creepy, even for you."

Kankuro winced as thought the comment had wounded him, "That hurt."

Gaara rolled his eyes flinching as a guy who'd had a little too much sake gave him a suggestive wink and a smile. Kankuro put a hand to his mouth to stifle his laughter, "You make a convincing woman."

"I could say the same thing, what's with the double D's? Trying to get picked up like this?" Gaara jeered with a small smile on his face, "Feeling uncomfortable in your own body?"

"Please, if you got it, flaunt it. And I got it as a male, why not as a chick?"

"Whatever you say…"

Kankuro studied his brother closely, watching his eyes continually shift to just about his head so he could see over the back of the booth to where Hinata was seated with her friends. He stared for a few seconds and then looked down at his hands, the look on his face reminiscent of when he was younger and the other children shunned him, not allowing him anywhere near them. He felt left out. He'd never admit it, but he wanted to be part of the conversation.

Kankuro resisted the urge to sigh, he would never understand the mark Gaara carried with him for being what he was, even though the beast was no longer inside of him. He was forever the outsider, not matter how many people acknowledged him as a capable leader and powerful warrior, he was still the monster who would kill without a second thought. Sometimes Kankuro wanted to bang his head against the wall, why couldn't people see the hostility was their own fault? That Gaara had been a scared child retaliating against a people who would never accept him, more likely to hurt him and than help him. But Kankuro was among those who feared his brother. Even still his gaze could still his heart for a few beats. He was as much a part of the problem as the village was, Temari too. And they both spent a lot of time and effort trying to make it up to him.

He wished there was something to do to get Gaara way from the conversation and get his mind off of the loneliness. People were more accepting of him here and he had friends like Naruto, but it was hard to find things to do in a village you weren't familiar with.

"Wanna go out into the forest and spar a bit? It's been a while since you've fought, you must be getting rusty."

Gaara pulled his eyes away from Hinata for the millionth time and smiked at him, "Hardly."

"Only one way to find out right?"

Gaara stood up, "Alright then, if you're that eager to be beaten into the ground by your younger…." He looked down at his dress and feminine physique, "Sister…than bring it on."

Kankuro laughed, followed him out of the sushi shop. He cast one last glance at Hinata's table, she was laughed at something one of them said, her hand over her mouth in that delicate manner of hers as she fought to keep the sushi in her mouth and not back on the plate in front of her. She missed them, that much was clear, he wondered if leaving them was going to make her hesitant to return to Suna. He knew if she asked to stay Gaara would allow her to, he couldn't deny her anything, that much was obvious, his affection for her was obvious. But he desperately hoped she chose not to stay, she was good for her younger brother. He needed someone to accept him for who he was, someone to balance out his sometimes aggressive nature and keep him reigned in.

The brothers poofed out of their disguises once they were deep enough into the forest not to be seen by some random pedestrian on the side of the road. Kankuro lead the way to the training grounds, he'd scouted out the forests earlier while Gaara was in a meeting with Tsunade, having nothing better to do in that time. He'd found this one to be the biggest, meaning minimal damage to the surrounded flora and fauna.

Gaara took off his gourd and leaned it against a nearby tree, fixing his gloves. Kankuro stared at his for a second, "No sand?"

Gaara shook his head, "No weapons, or puppets."

"Huh, interesting."

He'd noticed Gaara had started dressing differently a few months before Hinata moved in with them, but he'd be so preoccupied with being head of security he'd never really noticed until now. His brother's hair was a little longer in the front, bangs going into his eyes, almost hiding his scar, and he'd stopped wearing so much red. He had on a pair of black pants and a grey v-neck shirt, the black leather straps for his gourd were still on, one wrapped around his torso another crossing over his left shoulder and he'd taken to wearing fingerless gloves with metal plates on the backs.

It was odd to see Gaara without his gourd, he looked…bigger in a way. Without the gourd behind him, making him look smaller, less significant. Gaara put up his hands and took an offensive stance. Kankuro tossed his scrolls into the grass and pulled off his hood, getting ready for the attack.

Gaara was a lot faster without the gourd, Kankuro forgot to take that into account and almost got his nose broken by his brother's fist. He ducked and rolled to the side, coming up in time to jump out of the way of a roundhouse kick. He did a back flip and landed on his feet, this time he blocked his brother's blow and landed one of his own in the chest. Gaara grunted and kicked Kankuro's feet out from underneath him. Gaara was good at being unpredictable, but it was clear this kind of combat was foreign to him.

"Trying to change things up a bit Gaara?"

"I don't need the gourd to control the sand, I only need it for the skin shield, but I've been practicing and I can hold the shield without the gourd for short periods of time, so I want to get used to fighting without it, I'm less restricted. It's strange."

Kankuro had Gaara pinned while he was distracted, but Gaara flipped there positions, holding a kunai to Kankuro's throat.

"Hey, no weapons!"

Gaara smirked, "I know, I just didn't want to fight anymore."

"What? That punch to the chest too much for you?"

Gaara's smirk faded, "I know what you're trying to do, distract me from thinking about…" He couldn't bring himself to finish the thought.

Gaara stood up and walked over to his gourd, putting the knife away. Kankuro followed him, "Yeah…I was."

"I'm fine."

Kankuro figured he'd say something like that. The thing is, he didn't look fine. Kankuro wished he'd been better about hiding his intentions, but Gaara was good at reading people, he'd never really stood a chance.

"I'm going to go think…" Gaara murmured, disappearing into the night, leaving Kankuro alone and feeling strangely guilty.


	24. TwentyThree: Let me interact

-Chapter Twenty-Three-

By the time Hinata arrived at the hotel it was only a few hours until sunrise. Her mind was buzzing with millions of thoughts and her heart was heavy with the nostalgia brought on by the village that was once her home. Seeing Kiba and Shino was the best thing that could have happened, she was glad to know that she was genuinely missed and that they were more than eager to come and visit her; though part of her felt that Kiba just wanted to get caught in the middle of a sandstorm the way her prattled on about them. She opened the door to her room and tossed down the pack she'd carried with her all day, deciding to take a quick shower before bed, hoping the hot water would calm her thoughts.

She pulled a nightgown out of her pack along with a sweater and went into the bathroom, taking her time in the shower, spending more time than necessary lathering her hair simply because of how good it felt to massage her scalp. The tension in her shoulders eased away, leaving room for fatigue to settle in, making her limbs feel heavy and sluggish. She turned off the water and dried herself off, finding it to be a terrible chore. She put oh her nightgown and sweater before tying her hair up into a bun to keep her wet hair off of her neck and pillows, stepping out into her room to see a strange shadow cast out on her balcony. She walked over to the glass door and slid it open, stepping out to see one leg hanging off of the edge of the roof, connected to a body belonging to none other than her insomniac kazekage.

Using the gate surrounding the balcony, Hinata pulled herself onto the roof with some difficultly because of how tired she was getting. Gaara stared out at the tops of the buildings before him for a few painstakingly silent moments before turning his gaze to her. She smiled, determined to keep this conversation as cordial as possible, she was going to get something out of him, she just didn't know what yet. She didn't really know how far she could push him before he snapped, "Having trouble sleeping?"

"I could ask you the same question."

Hinata nodded, "I just got back from seeing my old team not too long ago. I would have been back sooner, but I'd wanted to see that Kiba got home safely. He's got a terrible habit of having a little too much fun with his sake. I'd hate to have him stumble into trouble and not be able to fend for himself, so me and Shino make sure he was in his room before we left him alone."

Gaara nodded, but didn't give any response, "What about you? Why are you still awake?"

"I've never slept much, it seems strange to start now."

"Why is that?" She prodded gently.

Gaara looked back to the cityscape before him, "I guess…part of me is still paranoid that something darker, dangerous still hides somewhere behind my closed eyes. It's not something I want to take the chance of encountering."

She nodded, remembering a similar conversation they'd shared on the topic not too long ago, "I know how you feel."

Gaara looked at her questioningly, she shrugged, "When I was in the coma, I dreamed of this all-consuming darkness that threatened to swallow me whole. I used to have nightmares, as you know, and…I suppose I'm still afraid of falling into the abyss. But it's a chance I'm willing to take, I'd be useless without sleep, Of course, I haven't had as much practice as you."

The corner of Gaara's mouth lifted into the faintest hint of a smile, Hinata wanted to grin, "Do you like visiting Konoha?" She asked randomly.

Gaara nodded, "It's a nice change of scenery, a lot more color, comfortable heat and gentle wind. What about you, what do you miss about this place?"

Gaara's eyes seemed to bore into hers as she thought, "Well, like you said, I miss the colors and the mild weather conditions, the rain too…but I'm starting to get used to Suna's climate, and I love how many opportunities I have to just lay out in the sun, you can't always do that here. I like each place respectfully, and though Konoha is more visually appealing, Suna is starting to feel like home to me. I don't know if I could live here and be happy about it now…"

She leaned back so that she was lying against the roof and closed her eyes, heaving a sigh and letting any tension in her body dissipate.

"You're tired." Gaara stated.

"Yes, just a little." She agreed.

"Would you like me to carry you to your room?" He asked hesitantly.

She shook her head, "Not just yet, I'd like to sit here for a moment and relax a bit longer, I've always loved how quiet villages get at night. It's peaceful."

She could hear Gaara shift as her turned to look back out at the sky, listened to his slow, even breathing. He was a comforting presence, even with the tension between them, he was still the person she felt safest around, although she wasn't always at ease. It was a bit of a rollercoaster with him sometimes and she could tell relationships and attraction were as foreign to him as they were to her. Was it circumstantial attraction on his part? Her stomach dropped unpleasantly into her kidneys at the thought. Gods she hoped not.

She sat up slowly and looked over at him, how lost he was in the scenery. She placed a gentle hand on his cheek, he turned to face her, eyes curious. She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, pulling away after the briefest contact and dropping her head, "Sorry."

She turned to leave but he caught her wrist and pulled her into his arms. She sat on his lap, looking up at him questioning, shivering in his embrace, He traced her lips with the tips of his fingers, "Did you regret kissing me?" He asked quietly.

"No."

"Then…why did you apologize?"

"Because I didn't want to over step my boundaries, I'd hate to make you feel uncomfortable, especially if you didn't want me to kiss you."

He pressed his lips against hers, hand on her lower back, pushing her closer. He licked her lips and she parted them, allowing him entrance as she tentatively brought her hands up to his shoulders. He leaned back so that he was lying down, Hinata now straddling his waist as he deepened the kiss. He pushed her sweater off of her shoulders and flipped their positions so that he was kneeling between her legs. He broke their heated kiss to breathe, loving how her heart was racing, breathing labored, cheeks pink from the exertion.

He kissed her jaw and the column of her throat, loving the way her chest tightened against his as she held her breath. He made his way down to her chest, biting the swell of her left breast that was peaking out from her nightgown, leaving a faint set of teeth marks that he kissed with an open mouth, drawing lazy circles around the indentations until they were red and the skin was hot. He blew a cool breath across the love bite, grinning devilishly as Hinata shivered.

Gaara could feel the hold on his control loosening as he gazed down at Hinata, her nightgown was dangerously short and in this position the neckline wasn't doing much to hide her voluminous breasts. The silky material hugged all of her curves, he resisted the urge to tear it off. This wasn't how he wanted to court her, on a roof top, in a village that wasn't even his own. It just didn't seem right, "I think we should stop." He said quietly.

Hinata looked up at him and nodded, "I agree."

They both sat up, Hinata pulled her sweater back on and redid her bun before standing up and helping Gaara to his feet. He leaned down and gave her a kiss that he'd intended to keep brief until she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close before stepping out of his embrace. She kissed his cheek tenderly, "You really should get some rest." She said gently.

Gaara smiled a bit and shook his head, "Maybe in a while." He had too much to sort out with himself before he could even think about rest.

Hinata nodded, "Goodnight then…"

"I think you mean good morning."

Hinata looked over to the horizon to see the rising sun, "I guess you're right."

She smiled at him before stepping down into her room and closing the door. She looked down at the mark Gaara had given her, she'd seen them on older girls before, the trampy ones who had them all over their necks, behind their ears, wearing them like prizes when it really only showed how trashy they were. But this one seemed more private, more like a secret than the ones the other girls had. Only she knew about this mark, and no one else needed to find out.

She got into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin, wondering how Gaara was going to act tomorrow when they met up. There were still so many questions she had, and she knew they were going to take some time and patience. Gaara had this uncanny ability to side track her when she wanted to get into something important. She'd have to get him alone again if she was going to get anything out of him, it was clear from the start that he was a secretive man who enjoys his privacy and the sanctity of his own thoughts. Hinata wondered if she had what it takes to pull him out of his shell.

"Only one way to find out…" She sighed, she could barely pull herself out of her own shell, much less someone else.


	25. TwentyFour: The Glass is Half

-Chapter Twenty-Four-

Gaara didn't sleep that night, although it wasn't often he did. His heart was at peace but his mind was in utter turmoil. He knew what he felt for Hinata, but he still didn't know what to think about the situation, it was too new, too foreign. And even though he knew they were moving at a snail's pace because of his apprehensions he felt like he was traveling at the speed of light. Part of him still couldn't believe that any of this was real, though he'd been having that problem for years now. Part of him was still the scared child, love-starved and ready for death threats at every turn.

And yet here he was, almost nineteen years old, with two siblings who were learning to forgive him for his faults and accept him as the person he was. And then there was Hinata, the girl who not only accepted him, but loved him and tried to get to know him despite his constant rebuffing. She was persistent and he couldn't be more thankful.

The sun was cresting the horizon by the time he slipped down to his room to shower and dress for the day. He could hear Kankuro in the next room over grumbling as he went through his morning routine. Temari had been kept overnight with Tsunade at the hospital so that she could undergo extensive tests to see the extent of the nerve damage in her arm. Today they would go and hear the verdict.

He went over to Hinata's room and knocked on the door, "Just a moment!" She called from the other side.

She came to the door shortly after that, tying her long hair into a braid, "Sorry about that, I couldn't find my brush. Is it time to get going?" She asked, throwing the long plait over her shoulder. She was dressed modestly in a mesh shirt and purple tank top with skinny, black pants.

His mind stopped working for a moment, how should he greet her? Act around her? Would she shy away from him if he kissed her in public?

"Gaara?….Hello?" He snapped to attention as she waved a hand in front of his face, "Are you alright?"

He nodded, giving his head a shake to clear away his pesky thoughts, "Yes, I'm alright, just got caught up on a random thought."

"Oh…ok."

"But yes, I came to get you so we could go see Temari."

"Where is Kankuro?"

"Right here."

The both looked over as he yawned and stretched, his arms taking up the expanse of the hallway, "Ready to go you two?"

"We could ask you the same question." Hinata shot back with a laugh.

"I'm never late, you two are just early."

"If you say so." She said lightly.

The walk to the hospital was brief and in comfortable silence. Hinata waved to Ino who was tending to her family's flower shop for the day but saw no one else she knew until she got to the infirmary. Sakura and Tsunade were huddled around a clip board when the trio arrived. The pink haired apprentice looked confused and apprehensive about whatever her buxom mentor was proposing. As always the Hokage looked confident and sage, Gaara hoped someday to at least garner that quality during his time as Kazekage.

Tsunade turned to them with a cool demeanor, "From the start it was obvious that Temari's arm was useless after the injury, the nerve deterioration is only getting worse over time and will continue I think until the arm is completely dead. What I would like to do is re-injure the arm, severing the nerves again and using the healing chakra to try and reconstruct them. Its never been done before, at least not that I know of, and it's a shot in the dark, but besides amputation it's the only way I can think to save her arm."

"What are the chances of the operation being a success?" Gaara asked quietly.

"Honestly I have no idea, I would think they would be high because reattaching tissue and nerves is the basic function of healing jutsu, but the nerves are damaged so I guess it depends on if I can reopen the wound far enough to reset the damage completely and not just heal the bum nerves over again. If all else fails my next recommendation would be amputation honestly. She wants to be back in the field and can't do it with that arm."

Hinata and Kankuro were silent throughout, just letting the information being fed to them sink in. Gaara kept his steady gaze on the elder blonde, "Have you spoken to her yet?"

"She wanted to wait until you three got here before I explained her options to her."

"Can we see her?"

"Of course."

Tsunade lead the group down the corridor to Temari's room. She was seated on her bed, hair down around her face which was a rare and frightening sight for Gaara. Temari's hair down always meant something wasn't right. There was no spark in her emerald eyes and her skin had the same pallor of someone who is already dead. She was about ready to give up.

"Temari?"

She turned to Gaara as he addressed her, "Yeah?"

"Lady Hokage thinks there is a possibility of your arm being repaired."

Her eyes narrowed, as though the prospect was almost too good to be true, "How so?"

This is where Tsunade stepped in, Gaara moved to the side as she approached the bed and explained the process. Temari nodded, "Anything beats being a dead weight. Worst comes to worst, take the arm off." She said bitterly.

"I'm going to do everything in my power to see that it doesn't come to that." Tsunade said solemnly, "So I have your consent then?"

"Yes, when can we start?"

"As soon as I have an operating room prepared for you. Why don't I leave you alone with your siblings for a while, say good-bye and I'll be back with the technicians to see you into the OR."

Gaara approached the bed again, his sister looked wary, "Tsunade is a capable medic, I would trust no one more in this situation."

She looked at him dead in the eyes, "But even the gods make mistakes Gaara. What if I lose my arm?" She whispered. For the first time in his life she was showing him genuine fear that was not directed at him and his heart broke. Where was her fiery nature when his world was falling apart?

"Then you will still be the skilled ninja you are and always have been. But I don't think Lady Tsunade is going to let it come to that."

"I certainly hope not…"

Hinata walked over and took Temari's good hand, giving in a gentle squeeze, "When I was younger I had entered the chunin exams and had been paired to fight my older cousin Neji, you remember don't you? He had almost killed me in his rage. Tsunade wasn't Hokage just then, but they had called upon her to fix my broken organs, the damage was extensive, they had to keep me sedated so I didn't rupture anything. She was the only one confident enough in her own skill to try and fix me when I was shattered and she did a miraculous job. I know she'll do the same for you Temari, have a little faith."

Temari cracked a small smile and Gaara's heart skipped a beat at the sight, "You're right Hinata, I should stop being so negative."

"Exactly."

Kankuro, who had been standing by the door, came up to his sister and placed his hand on her shoulder in a rare gesture of affection. Admittedly, the three sand siblings often shied away from such things, it made them uncomfortable after the way their father had raised them, "You're gonna be fine Temari, something like this isn't going to slow someone as stubborn as you down."

She smirked a little, "I'm too stubborn to die."

"And thank the gods for that."

Gaara did his best to freeze this moment in his mind forever, it was such a rare thing to see his siblings open up to one another, especially when he was around. He could feel the corner of his mouth lifting into a tentative smile as he placed his hand on his sister's other shoulder. He knew that not matter what the outcome of the surgery Temari was going to pull through and be the boisterous sister he knew and admittedly loved. No matter what. All it took was this moment to assure Gaara that somehow everything was going to be alright.


End file.
